Deb Stewart, Associate Academic Dean

Program Manager, Arts, Communication, and Humanities

Debby Stewart began her CCV career as a student, graduating from the College in 1989. She went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in literature in 1991 and an MFA in poetry in 1993, both from Vermont College of Norwich University. “The first thing I did upon finishing my degree was apply to teach at CCV,” she admits. “I knew how influential the College had been in changing my life, and I was determined to be part of such important work.” She has taught at the college nearly every semester since, primarily in the areas of writing, literature, humanities, communication, and education.

Debby’s profound understanding of CCV makes her an ideal program manager for the arts, communication, and humanities committee. In addition to her years of teaching, she served as academic coordinator for the Springfield site and, in 2001, was appointed associate academic dean. In this capacity, Debby works on issues of faculty development and curriculum. Yet she considers her work on PMC especially enriching, “Some of the best conversations I’ve had at CCV have been as part of that committee or the car rides to and from it!” she laughs. “CCV is so incredibly rich with talented and passionate people. It’s really inspiring.” Debby served as Chair of PMC during the 2005-2006 academic year.

“I’ve been writing as long as I can remember,” she says of her deep connection to words. “But it wasn’t until I took a literature course at CCV that I became really interested in poetry.” Her poems and reviews have appeared in the Harvard Review, Sojourner, Poet Lore, and other journals. She has been a finalist for the Academy of American Poets’ Walt Whitman Award, runner-up for Kent State’s Wick Poetry Prize, and semi-finalist for University of Wisconsin’s Brittingham Award, and the National Poetry Series. She has performed her poetry in Vermont and New Hampshire as part of the Councils on the Humanities’ “After Frost” program.

In 2003, Debby revised and re-wrote CCV’s faculty handbook, Teaching for Development, set to be re-printed this spring. In 2004, she published Effective Teaching: A Guide for Community College Instructors, a general version of the handbook, still a best seller for the American Association of Community Colleges. In fall of 2006, she wrote the introduction to and edited CCV's Anthology of Assignments: An Instructor Resource to Promote Writing & Critical Thinking in the Classroom, an extensive publication which draws together the work of over 37 instructors and academic staff.