Johnson State will soon be bidding assistant professor Staci Born farewell.

Born has worked in the Department of Behavioral Sciences, teaching within both the graduate counseling program and the undergraduate psychology program. She began working at JSC in August 2014 and will be moving on to a similar position at South Dakota State University.

“I’ll also be heading up a marriage and family counseling track,” said Born, “so that gives me an opportunity to lead a program and then license the marriage and family therapists. It’s a neat opportunity.”

Born said the move will also give her the chance to strike a favorable balance between teaching and research work. “This opportunity provides me the chance to do more research, which is really exciting. My position is partly teaching, but also a major part of doing research. [It’s] exciting to kind of be able to balance those two really important parts of my life,” she said.

Reflecting on her time at JSC, Born said that her best memories were of her students. “[I’ve had] really great students that ask the best questions, questions I don’t always have the answer to,” she said. “What’s most fun as an educator and an educational experience is that [moment when I say], ‘I don’t know what that answer is, let’s find out!’

“I’m also really tech-friendly,” she continued, “when it’s being used for useful purposes. Sometimes it’s as simple [as saying], ‘Let’s get on Google and figure it out,’ and I actually like students to take out their devices and do it or go to the research and see what they say. Right in class, just hitting pause and doing those things.”

Gina Mireault, co-chair of the Behavioral Science Department, also reflected on Born’s time at the college. “Staci has been an outstanding addition to our undergraduate and graduate programs,” said Mireault. “In her short time here, she left an indelible mark, and was particularly a champion and model for introducing new learning technologies into the curriculum. We wish her and her family well, and she will be sorely missed as a professor, colleague, and friend.”