Skip to main content

Meet Our Faculty: Allison Fernley

Allison Fernley


Associate Professor
Humanities and Social Sciences
English

What she teaches:
Intro to Writing, Intro to Queer Studies, Intermediate Writing, Critical Intro to Literature, Intro to Critical Theory

Number of years teaching at SLCC:
29

Undergraduate degree:
University of Utah

Master’s:
University of Utah


Why working at SLCC matters:
We have the chance to make a difference for all kinds of different students in all kinds of ways, whether it be helping a desperate student in the Writing Center who doesn’t know how to approach a psychology paper or encouraging a student not to give up his/her/their dream to become a nurse because biology class is so difficult.  We often serve as the first higher ed contact for someone making a great change in their life or even in their family’s history and prospects.  That’s as close as it comes for me to a sacred trust.

Greatest professional challenge:
Learning how to work effectively with English Language Learners.  Expectations of grammar mastery and crystal-clear sentences block us from engaging students on the plane of their ideas and communicative abilities.  Mastery will come over time and with experience—as it does for anyone learning another language. 

Greatest professional accomplishment:
Joining Jonathan Stowers in his dream to offer one of the first queer studies courses at a community college level, providing a space for open discourse that had not previously existed to serve SLCC’s LGBT students and their allies.  Learning to work with students where they are “at”:  eschewing one-size-fits-all in favor of trying to help each student develop their writing abilities from where they start.


Advice for students or others:
Show up.  Understand that writing is revision.  Go to the Student Writing Center.  If you just keep coming to class and are willing to write and rewrite, you will succeed.

Future plans:
Live in the present. Seriously. In a meditative way.

Family:
I am married to Judy Rose who is a software engineer. We have three godchildren and a cat named Oscar.

Hobbies:
Guitar, piano, opera, American musical theater.



Popular posts from this blog

SLCC's Undergraduate Annual Research Conference Registration Deadline

Salt Lake Community College’s annual Undergraduate Projects, Performances, Presentations, and Research Conference (UP3RC) is set to take place on April 2, at the Taylorsville Redwood Campus, offering students a chance to showcase their academic achievements, fostering a culture of intellectual exchange.  The UP3RC is an annual event designed to celebrate and highlight the academic accomplishments of undergraduate students. It provides a supportive environment for students to share their work, hone their presentations skills, receive constructive feedback, and engage in meaningful discussions with their peers and faculty. All SLCC departments and programs, including faculty and staff, are encouraged to support and visit the day of the event. Students with their poster from last year's UPRC event “The goal of this event is to make sure every school and student is given the opportunity to participate,” says Dr. Kamal Bewar, interim director of the STEM Learning Center, who is chairin

SLCC Business School is Utah’s First to be Named Exclusively After a Woman

Salt Lake Community College (SLCC) proudly announces a partnership with the Larry H. & Gail Miller Family Foundation to modernize its Business Building and transform its School of Business. The improvements are made possible through a generous $10 million gift from the Miller Family Foundation and Gail Miller, the largest-ever single cash donation received by the college.  SLCC is renaming its Business Building the Larry H. & Gail Miller Family Business Building in honor of the Miller family’s legacy and contributions to the community. The business school will be named the Gail Miller School of Business in recognition of the strong business acumen Gail Miller displays as a community leader and as the owner and immediate past chair of the Larry H. Miller Company. This name change will make SLCC home to the only business school in Utah and one of only a few in the country to be named exclusively after a woman.  “We are deeply humbled by the generosity of Gail and the Miller fam

You’re Invited to A Party! Open House Kicks off New Herriman Campus

  Complimentary food truck fare, live music, and family activities spotlight new campus.   There’s something for everyone at the upcoming Herriman Campus Community Open House on Friday, August 4 (3:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.). See schedule below.   The public is invited to celebrate the opening of this new campus with festivities that include free local food truck fare, live music, and a Mocktail Mixer, where you can mingle with others, including Salt Lake Community College (SLCC) and University of Utah (U of U) faculty.   Families with kids can engage in face painting and a craft station, see the Super Mario Brothers movie, and high-five mascots Brutus, Swoop and Yeti.   This is an opportunity to have some summer fun for all ages and to check out the Juniper building on the new 88-acre SLCC Herriman campus.    At the open house, prospective students and their families can meet SLCC and U of U faculty and staff, take a tour the building, or even check out the Application & Transfer Lab a