Staff Feature: Stacey Martin, Dean of Students

(ABILENE, Texas) — Stacey Martin, Hardin-Simmons Dean of Students, is always out and about on campus greeting students and wishing them a great day. She graduated from HSU in 1996 with a degree in Corporate Wellness.

For a year after graduation, Martin worked as a Fitness Center Manager until attending a friend’s graduation where she was convinced to apply as an admissions recruiter at Hardin-Simmons. This one decision would be the first step towards a life of higher education for Martin.

“I guess you can say I fell in love working for my alma mater,” said Martin. During the first five years she worked for HSU, she began dating her now-husband, Cody whom she met at the tennis courts when they were students on campus.

Stacey Martin speaks with a student in her office.

While working as an admissions recruiter, Martin completed her master’s degree in Sports Management. It was on maternity leave for her first child that Martin was offered a position in the Academic Advising department, where she would stay for the next eleven years.

Throughout the years, she has worked hard to move up in her career, eventually earning the role of Dean of Students.

“In the Dean of Students role, there were a lot of challenges working with discipline… But you don’t have to love it; you have to be able to love with grace and mercy. That’s the awesome part about working at Hardin-Simmons,” said Martin. “You have the ability to work through mistakes and provide grace and mercy for them to make a change. Seeing students make choices that negatively impact them and then seeing them deal with the consequences that they have to answer for, and being able to see them walk through that and then come out on the other end is always great.”

Although Martin did not plan on a career in higher education, she is pleased with her job today. “I have never dreaded coming to work in the morning,” she said. “Yes, there may be difficult days because I have to make difficult decisions, but that’s just part of my job. I have never ever felt as though I do not want to come to work on the drive here. I love what I do.”

Martin is always active on campus, around Abilene, and at home. Throughout the semester, Martin tries to show her support for the university by teaching classes such as First-Year Seminars, attending sports games, and club/organizational events.

“This past year was rough for Greek, as a whole, but when I had an issue, Dean Martin’s door was always open,” says Macee Hall, HSU senior and president of Epsilon Pi Alpha, women’s social club. “I could not have solved a lot of the problems my club dealt with without the help of many people on campus, but especially not without Dean Martin. She doesn’t just see us as any generic students. She genuinely cares about our lives and about us as people. Even better, she’s like a friend to so many students on campus!”

Around Abilene, Martin is part of the Board of Directors of Junior Achievement of Abilene, a second-year Board of Trustee member of Jim Ned CISD, and is an active member at Pioneer Drive Baptist Church. At home, Martin says she must be intentional with her spare time. “Any spare time that I can find, I will be at their (her children’s) sporting events. Sometimes I have to leave work, I have to be intentional to balance my time, but I don’t want to miss their activities. I want them to know I’m present when I’m there.”

Stacey Martin is currently the Interim Vice President for Student Life and the Dean of Students and her office is located in the Moody Student Center on the second floor.