Elevate: Wade Derden

Timothy Webb (00:13): Thank you all for joining us today here on Elevate, broadcasting from the Razorback Camper Sales Studio. This National Park College podcast highlights a different Nighthawk with each episode. We'll talk about their journey, challenges, key moments of success, their moments of elevation, leveling up, and overcoming. (00:33): I'm Timothy Webb, your host, and I'd like to welcome Dr. Wade Derden to the program. Thanks so much for joining us. Dr. Wade Derden (00:40): Happy to be here. Timothy Webb (00:41): All right. So Doctor, how long have you been at National Park College? Dr. Wade Derden (00:46): I started in 2011, fall of 2011 as the Division Chair for Social Sciences. Timothy Webb (00:51): Social sciences. And now you're the Vice President of? Dr. Wade Derden (00:55): Vice President for Academic Affairs. Timothy Webb (00:58): Oh, okay. And what all does that entail? Dr. Wade Derden (01:01): Basically, overall, I'm responsible for all the credit instruction on the campus. So any courses that college students are taking, not the non-credit nor the high school tech programs, but most of the college instruction. Also, Adult Basic Education is a direct report to me, the library, any instructional technology information, like the online services D2L. And so that's pretty much in a nutshell. Timothy Webb (01:38): So I need to come to you and see if I got any hidden degrees hanging out there somewhere. Is that right? Dr. Wade Derden (01:43): Well, actually you should probably go see the Registrar and have them audit your transcript. Timothy Webb (01:48): Yeah, I probably should track them down. I hope all the students heard that out there. The Registrar audits transcripts, not Dr. Derden. Okay. What kind of challenges do you face as the Vice President of Academics? Dr. Wade Derden (02:02): I think the most difficult thing for someone in my role is just compliance. It's making sure that we're in compliance with accrediting agencies, with state law. It's kind of interesting. You associate the Vice President of Academic Affairs with instruction, but I actually don't have a lot to do with day to day instruction anymore. My main role is making sure that our policies and our activities in the classroom and related to instruction comply with federal rules and state rules. Timothy Webb (02:41): Oh, wow. So on this podcast, Elevate, we talk about the different obstacles that a person had to overcome to where they got through. So what are some of the obstacles that you overcame to get to where you are today? Dr. Wade Derden (02:55): It's really interesting, and I could probably talk about this a lot. My family was a typical Arkansas family, rural family. I'm the first person in my family to go to college and to get a... I should clarify. I don't think I'm actually the first to go to college, but I'm the first to finish college. Timothy Webb (03:14): All right. Dr. Wade Derden (03:17): I'm certainly the only one that has a PhD. And I think I overcame a lot of obstacles that Arkansans would recognize. Poverty, my family was fairly poor. In fact, I think back about my high school days, and I'm not quite sure how I wound up in college. I was a smart kid in my classes in high school and such, and I think I just had a strong social network that recognized this kid has potential, and people kept pushing me in the right direction. And I did go to Hendricks College, which looking back on it again, I'm not quite sure how I wound up there. (03:59): There was a great recruiter named Diana Arms, and she came to the high school and talked to us, and I don't know. I just wound up, I did a visit because of her. I did two visits because of her, one in my junior year and one in my senior year. And I guess she just stayed on top of things and got me there because I really didn't know how to apply for college or how to do any of that stuff. And so she helped open that door for me. I still had to figure out those first couple of years how to be a college student. Some of my college buddies, in fact, and I were talking just yesterday and they were laughing at me and where I am now professionally because they knew me my freshman year of college. I didn't know what I was doing. (04:50): I'm lucky to survive my freshman year of college. I got a D in math my freshman year of college. It was the only math course I took. And I basically just barely held on to a D by a thread, maybe a generosity of a faculty member, in fact. And so mostly it wasn't because I wasn't capable, it was because I didn't know how to navigate college. I came back from my freshman year at college, and I told my dad I wasn't going back. I said, I'm not going back. I'm just going to find a job. And he said, well, so happens that I have a job for you. And he ran construction crews, it was a particular type. They poured onsite manholes. So it was concrete work. And so I went to work for him. I worked on a crew that summer, and I actually almost died in Hot Springs. (05:45): I was almost killed on a job site where Lowe's used to be on Central over by the older Kroger over there. And I almost got killed on that job site. And I worked hard that summer. I did well. He gave me a choice. At the end of the summer, the whole crew, met every afternoon, we all came back, all the different crews came back, and we sort of talked about what we did that day and what needed to happen next day and such. And dad asked me in that crew meeting meeting, he's like, "Well, it's time to make your decision. Are you going back or are you staying?" And I said, "I think I'm going to go back." And every guy there started to applaud, and they patted me on the back and they said, "We'd be happy to keep you, but we're glad you're going back." And so I tried to do better after that. I still struggled my sophomore year, but by my junior year I kind of hit my stride. Timothy Webb (06:37): So students listening, it does take time to get used to college life and college structure, even for the vice president of Academic Affairs. But Doc, you got to give us a little more details. What happened on that job site that day? Dr. Wade Derden (06:53): And so you know how when you're building a building on a slope, you have to landfill it in to flatten it out and bring dirt in. And so where that job site is, there was a huge slope and we were pouring the manhole before it was land filled in. And so the manhole that we were pouring was 40 feet high. And a manhole, you've seen them. Probably, they're about, what is that? About three foot in diameter or so. And the forms, you have an interior form and an exterior form. You pour the concrete in between, right. And so we're 40 feet up and the OSHA rules must have been a little bit more lax. I wasn't strapped in anywhere. This was 1992. There were no straps or anything. And so I'm standing on what is ultimately the lips of these forms, which are about two-inch wide each. (07:49): And so I've got my feet over about a six inch lip here, just standing on the top of a 40 foot tower of plastic forms that are bolted together. And a concrete crane with a bucket of concrete is swinging that bucket out to us. And then we're putting the concrete between the forms, and then it would take and fill it back up while we got the air pockets and things out of the concrete. And so at one point, they didn't notify us that the bucket was coming back. And I had my back to it because I was trying to do some work with getting air out of the concrete that we had just poured. And my foreman happened to look up and see it coming and said drop. (08:33): And he literally dropped to the side and was hanging on the side of the forms. And I turned around just in time to see the bucket and caught it. And it swung me out off... If I hadn't turned around at that moment, it would hit me in the head, and I would've fell 40 feet into what is basically, a construction site. The rebar and all sorts of stuff down there. It was close. Timothy Webb (08:55): I can't imagine why you went back to college after that. So I guess you're not scared of heights then? Dr. Wade Derden (09:01): No, I used to rock climb in fact. Timothy Webb (09:02): Oh, wow. Dr. Wade Derden (09:03): Actually, I've gotten more afraid of heights. Timothy Webb (09:05): Have you? Dr. Wade Derden (09:06): And as I've gotten older, I guess your inner ear changes a little bit as you get older. Timothy Webb (09:09): Maybe so. I am afraid of heights, but I found that if I faced them more often, that fear would go away. However, I don't face them that often because I'm afraid. Dr. Wade Derden (09:24): I don't mind high places. What I found when I was rock climbing is that I'm more afraid of the edge. Timothy Webb (09:28): Yeah. Well yeah, that's it. So that all being said, those are a lot of obstacles you had to overcome. Now that you've been in your position for a little while, is there any achievements you're proud of or most proud of? Dr. Wade Derden (09:47): This may sound cliche, but I think the best thing that I have done here is the team that I've built in Academic Affairs. I've got very competent, hardworking people on my team. If I got hit by a bus tomorrow, any one of them could lead this college. I'm very confident in them. They're experts in their understanding of the college, they're experts in their disciplines, in their specific areas. But they're top notch. And I think the students benefit from that because that kind of expertise and competence trickles down into the faculty. The faculty see that and they know that we have their back, and they know that they're supported. And at least I hope they know that because I feel that way. And I think that allows them to be more at ease in the classroom and to focus on their students because they don't have to worry about the other things. I try to keep a lot of things off the faculty's shoulders if I can. Timothy Webb (10:57): Right. Sure, because teachers, they have a lot to fight already. It's too... Dr. Wade Derden (11:03): Yeah, I was a classroom instructor for many, many years. So it's not easy work. Timothy Webb (11:06): Right. No, it's not. And they work a lot of extra hours to get it all done. So you may have already said this, I'm not sure, but what brought you to NPC? What do you like about being at National Park College? Dr. Wade Derden (11:21): I started my career at what was then Pulaski Tech in North Rock is now UA Pulaski Technical College as a faculty member. And I actually worked on my PhD while I was there. And while I was working on my PhD, I had the fortune of doing an internship, a legislative internship with Arkansas Association of Two Year Colleges, which has now been rebranded. And it's just called Arkansas Community Colleges. And the director took me under his wing and I was a legislative intern, which meant during the 2009 legislative session, which is when we created the lottery scholarship in the state so it was a big session. And I was doing research on lottery scholarships anyway. And so one of my jobs was to track all the legislation that affected community colleges. And now there are computer programs that do this but I was that program. (12:21): Every day I knew exactly, I sat down, I had a list of every single bill that affected community colleges, even if it was something like an energy efficiency thing for street lights that would have an impact on us. I knew it. I had a summary of what the bill did or would do. And I had sort of a calendar of where it was in the process, what committee it was heading for, things like that. And from that, I was also responsible for creating talking points because on any given day, there might be a committee meeting that would come up that we would need to speak to a particular bill. But ATYC didn't speak to bills, but we always had a president with us every day during the legislative session, a different president. And my job was to coach them. Here's the bill, here are your talking points. (13:14): If we're called to give testimony, this is all you need to say. And that's what I did. I sat beside the president in any given committee meeting, and I got to know Sally Carter, who's a former president here, by that. And so when I saw the job for social science division chair come open, it just sort of happened that my wife and I were both looking for something different anyway. It was time. I just finished my PhD. I was kind of just looked to try something different. And there wasn't really anywhere to progress at Pulaski Tech. So it was close enough that I could commute. We since moved here. But at the time, I commuted for a while. And so I applied and got the job. And so that sort of worked out. Timothy Webb (14:00): So you got to know President Carter. She was the president when I was a student here at National Park College. So I have fond memories. Dr. Wade Derden (14:09): I still keep in touch with her. I saw her this week. Timothy Webb (14:11): Good deal. Okay. Dr. Derden, what hobbies, what interests do you have that you enjoy outside of the college in your work? Dr. Wade Derden (14:23): Well, I am a musician. I don't really advertise that a whole bunch, but I do play music. Not as much as I used to, but I do have a band. And we just released an album. And as albums go, people still release albums, at least us older musicians do. Apparently singles and things like that are the new thing. But I still believe in the art of putting together an album that's cohesive and that feeds where the songs lend themselves to one another. And I also still love the tangible feel of an album. And to pick one up and to look at the artwork and to see who played on it and to see who produced it and just the connections. Oh, this person was on this album and played. I just love that stuff, so. Timothy Webb (15:09): That's awesome. Dr. Wade Derden (15:10): So music is probably my primary hobby. Timothy Webb (15:14): What instruments do you play? What role do you play in your band? Dr. Wade Derden (15:19): I'm the lead singer. I write songs. I have a partner in that band. We write songs together. But I've been writing songs for 20 years and playing in bands for 20 years. And I play guitar mainly. That's my main instrument. Long ago, I tried my hand at being a lead guitar player, but I wasn't a very good one. I was functional. I could get in there, but I wasn't great. And I knew I wasn't great. And so after that band split up and I no longer had that role, I became the front man of a band, which I never thought I would do. I always was sort of a back up singer and playing guitar. But I have since always fronted the band. So I just play rhythm guitar. And then I had a banjo. I used to play banjo. I haven't picked that thing up in about four years probably. I was never great. I broke my wrist when I was 17, and I can't go fast. Timothy Webb (16:18): Well, if any of our listeners have ever picked up a banjo, they'll know they're heavy. And understand why you haven't picked it up in a while. Dr. Wade Derden (16:24): Yeah. I love that thing though. And I swear when I retire, I'm going to learn how to play old rag time jazz on it and find a tuba player and sit on the corner and play rag time jazz with a tuba player. And that's going to be my thing. Timothy Webb (16:36): You do that, I'm coming to watch. So is it a five string? Dr. Wade Derden (16:40): It is a five string. Timothy Webb (16:41): So that's another thing we do share is we both are musicians. What is it that brought you to guitar? What do you like about guitar so much? Dr. Wade Derden (16:51): I really don't know. Nobody in my family plays music. I do remember going to church when I was little with my grandparents, and I have memory of him playing with a band. And I don't think he played it, he certainly didn't own a guitar, but maybe he did. I have this sort of vague sort of childhood memory of him up there in the church band. Maybe he was just singing. But somewhere along the way, I wanted a guitar, and someone got me one. And I had a guitar since I was little. And then when I was in high school, I started taking lessons. But you know how kids are. I was about 14 or 15 and I was taking lessons, and there were these two brothers who were taking lessons with me who I knew. (17:42): And I kept up with it for a while. They had a band. They probably still do in the area that was pretty popular, but they were fantastic. They came from a family of musicians, and I could not keep up with them. And it was like all three of us taking lessons at the same time. And I got frustrated. I quit. And then when I was about 20, I was in college, I still had a guitar. And I knew a few chords. I could play an Eagles song. Timothy Webb (18:09): That's pretty tough really. Some of those Eagle songs are pretty tough. Dr. Wade Derden (18:12): Some of them are. That's true. But when I was 20, I worked at a gas station. My mom and dad owned a gas station for a while, and I worked at it periodically. And a guy came in and he taught lessons at Stone Hinge guitar on, I guess, it wasn't Keel Avenue, it was at Highway 107 up there JFK or whatever it is in North Little Rock. And we started talking, and he invited me to come take lessons. So I took lessons with him, and before long I was teaching lessons for him. And so I didn't really start playing guitar until I was in my twenties. Timothy Webb (18:46): Similar here. I didn't start really playing until I was 18, but I did have one as a small kid. But as the stories go, I broke it. How punk rock of me. Dr. Wade Derden (18:57): Yeah. Well, I wasn't very punk rock. I think, in fact, as a kid, I might have carved Andy Gibbs name into my guitar. And I know most of the people who listen to this are going to go, who's Andy Gibb? Timothy Webb (19:09): I remember. Dr. Wade Derden (19:10): Well, if you know who the Bee Gees are, Andy Gibb was their little brother. Timothy Webb (19:14): Was there any particular guitar player other than the man in church or Andy Gibbs that got you fired up about it? Because for me it was Kurt Cobain. For whatever reason, when I was a teenager, Cobain showed everybody you can write great songs that are simple. And so that really inspired me. Dr. Wade Derden (19:37): Well, when I first started learning to play guitar, I played Jimmy Hendricks. And partly that was because my teacher too. But Jimmy Hendricks and Dire Straits, stuff like that. I mean, that's one of the reasons I was initially a lead guitar player, because I technically was pretty proficient for a while. And I could play just about anything Jimmy Hendricks played. I couldn't even dare go there anymore. I've forgotten. That human that used to do that has gone away. I mean, maybe with some practice, I don't think about guitar the same way anymore. Now I think about it as a rhythm thing for lyrics. Timothy Webb (20:13): Yeah, yeah. Complement to your words. Dr. Wade Derden (20:15): But in terms of songwriting, I'd say Tom Petty is my bass influence. Timothy Webb (20:19): Tom Petty. Dr. Wade Derden (20:20): Again, but it's the same thing that you said about Kurt Cobain. You write good songs that aren't hard. I mean, his songs typically are four chords, sometimes the same four chords the whole song. And you don't even realize that the rhythm has never really changed. Timothy Webb (20:36): It's hard for a songwriter to realize that it's about the words, especially when we're guitar players at heart. And so that's definitely something I've had to tell myself over the years. Wow, that's cool. You've just named some of my favorite artists, Tom Petty, Hendricks, Dire Straits. Dire Straits, I love. Dr. Wade Derden (20:55): Yeah. Martin Knopfler is an amazing guitar player. Timothy Webb (20:57): Oh my gosh. What's the future hold for you, doctor? What do you plan to do? Dr. Wade Derden (21:03): Well, I don't know. I've just sort of doing my thing. I am a finalist at University of Arkansas Pulaski Technical College for their chancellor position. That was just announced yesterday. And so, we'll see if something happens there. But if not, that's okay too. I'm very happy here. I'm not actually in a hurry to leave. But sometimes opportunities present themselves, and you sort of have to take a look. Timothy Webb (21:33): Well, we don't want to lose you, that's for sure. Dr. Wade Derden (21:36): This school's been great to me. Timothy Webb (21:37): We hate to root against you on that. Dr. Wade Derden (21:40): Totally. I get it. I have a handful of staff, I think, that's saying prayers. We love Wade. We want what's best for him, but we really want him to stay. Timothy Webb (21:51): Is there any questions you wish I'd have asked you that I didn't? Dr. Wade Derden (21:56): I don't think so. I think one thing though that I would add, because I least the faculty have heard me say it a lot and I think it deserves some thought, is I always end meetings, especially our faculty meetings with the phrase, "Go out. Go out and be the college. Go out to be the college." And I think what's important about that, and what I mean by that is this college, we tend to think, oh, we're at National Park College. College is more than the buildings. It's more than projectors and whiteboards. We can have a college anywhere. The college is the people. And I guess I say that because I don't want people to forget that. The college is the people. We're all. You are the college. I'm the college. Our faculty are the college. And so we have a responsibility to remember that and be the college. Timothy Webb (22:54): Yeah. Yeah. That's good. That wraps up Elevate. Dr. Derden, thanks for joining me today. You are our first guest, and it's been wonderful talking to you. Dr. Wade Derden (23:04): I appreciate it. Thanks. Timothy Webb (23:06): And thanks to all of you for listening to Elevate today from the Razorback Camper Sales Studio. New episodes are released each Thursday. Special things to National Park College and the Sentinel Record for making this podcast possible. Until next time, this is Timothy Webb. Reminding you that every day is a chance to elevate.