After spending the last six years at Weber State’s Center for Community Engaged Learning, Teresa Martinez has been promoted to associate director. Colleagues and students talked about her influence not only in the community but also in their lives.
Martinez started at CCEL in January 2017 as a program coordinator. CCEL’s mission is to engage students and faculty in the community through direct service, civic engagement and to research and enhance the educational process.
Her influence and connection with students led to her promotion as the student engagement coordinator, where she oversaw the CCEL student team through changes and development over the years. She originally oversaw a team of 21 students under WSUSA that supported students in their role in community engagement.
Martinez led the change in the consolidation of roles and, as she said, promoted more equity in students’ positions. These changes equalized responsibilities and improved students’ access to tuition waivers.
Those who know Martinez are quick to share about her determination and drive to make a difference in people’s lives.
Martinez had supported the growth of students, faculty and the community through her position. Martinez says she’s enjoyed seeing students’ college and career plans shift from a focus on earning money to the mindset of “I could do more.” She said that she saw many students shift from art and humanities majors to social service-related majors.
Martinez told the story of a student who participated in a CCEL-hosted alternative break located in Guatemala. These alternative breaks are direct service trips locally and abroad. Following this experience, the student, who was majoring in psychology, changed her major to health care. She wanted to be a part of immediate emergency responses and help address the food insecurity that she saw firsthand in Guatemala.
This was a common result, said Martinez. She said she saw it transform students and their life trajectories. Additionally, it helped them better understand social issues and who was being impacted in their community.
Students’ wedding invitations and life updates that continue to show up in Martinez’s office are evidence of the long-term impact she has on students. She shared how much it means to have a student “choose to include you in their life.”
Markéta Havlová, an international student from the Czech Republic, worked with Martinez this last year as the social issues chair through the community engagement team. When sharing her experience with Martinez, Havlová said, “If I truly had an issue, I would go to her.”
Havlová said Martinez focuses on finding solutions, advocates for students and genuinely wants to know how people are doing. Havlová said she helped her see that issues aren’t just “black and white.”
Martinez’s attitude toward addressing challenges became apparent when reflecting on some of the challenges she faced at her last position. This included lack of funding, space and restrictions that often come with working for a state institution.
Alexis Bucknam, the executive director at CCEL, described Martinez as passionate, thoughtful and competent. She said Martinez’s efforts have helped students, faculty and staff have positive experiences in being a part of local change. Bucknam said Martinez is incredibly skilled at supporting growth experiences for student leaders. She said she is able to “build the scaffolding for them, but also hold them accountable.”
