A Day in the Life: Regional Director of the ELC and Global Regional Programs

By Jade Smallwood, Student Writer for the Office of External Relations & Communications

Chances are you’ve seen Dr. Jerry Martin around the Regionals. He’s always smiling, chatting with students or greeting visitors on campus.  For the past four years, Martin has been the Regional Director of the English Language Center and Global Regional Programs at Miami Middletown.

Martin graduated from Battery Creek High School in South Carolina in 1984. After high school, he served four years in the U.S. Coast Guard. Martin then enrolled at Valencia Community College, where he earned an associate of arts degree. He went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in Liberal Studies from University of Central Florida, and both his Masters in Global Management and his Ph.D. with an emphasis on Educational Leadership, Curriculum Design and Instructional Methods in Global Education from the University of Phoenix.

Martin began his career working for a computer company in Clearwater, Florida. He was accepted to the Japan Exchange and Teaching (JET) program and lived in Japan for three years, teaching English at an all-girls school and providing assistance to Japanese teachers by helping them teach English to Japanese students.

While the JET program lasted only three years, Martin and his wife, who also works at Miami Regionals, stayed in Japan for 20 years. During those years, Martin was heavily involved in corporate education. He developed and directed English programs for businesses.

A few states and countries later, Martin landed at Miami Regionals to spearhead the development and opening of a new English Language Center (ELC) on the Middletown campus. The ELC is expanding to the Hamilton campus beginning this fall.

Under Martin’s leadership, the ELC is thriving in Middletown. He has had a tremendous positive impact on the lives of hundreds of international students. The ELC is a five-level intensive language program and home to more than 250 students who are learning English while being fully immersed in American culture and activities. Martin is there for them every step of the way. He and his team work hard to make sure all international students know they have a home in Middletown, Ohio. Martin is adamant in stating that developing a world-class international program is a team effort, and he expresses his blessings on the many wonderful and professional campus and community stakeholders that make the Regionals a great destination for international students.

So far, Martin’s favorite memories are from the Alternative Spring Break (ASB) trip that the Office of Community Engagement organizes every spring break. ASB students travel to an area in need of help and serve in various capacities for four days.

“Watching the domestic and international students interact with each other, and become friends on the ASB trip, is fulfilling. Hearing them laughing together and watching the meshing of two cultures. That’s when I know that Crystal Ford Bingle, the Coordinator of Service Learning & Volunteerism, and my team were doing our jobs,” Martin said.

Martin has two wise pieces of advice for all Miami Regionals students, regardless of their age or ethnicity, “Develop relationships with your faculty. They are able to open doors for you. We want to see you succeed. Also, get involved on campus and in the community.  It’s through these two actions that meaningful, life-changing opportunities present themselves.”