As mentors, educators, and scholars, faculty members are at the heart of 51³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ’s mission to inspire and prepare students for a successful and impactful future. It’s an immense responsibility that requires the strong support of leadership.
Gary Totten, the new vice provost for the Office of Faculty Affairs, is on a mission to help faculty thrive in teaching, research, and service while creating career development and advancement opportunities. He intends to make an immediate impact using a solution-based approach that will resonate with faculty members across the campus.
Totten has built his career on teaching, researching, and writing about American literature from the late 19th and early 20th centuries, as well as cultural theory and material culture. Before moving into the central administration, he served as the chair of the English department. Totten's experiences have given him a deep understanding of faculty needs and priorities. He is skilled in appreciating diverse perspectives, effectively assessing complex situations, and navigating the intricate policies and procedures of the university.
Tell us about yourself.
I have been at 51³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ since 2016. My bachelor's and master’s degrees are from Brigham Young University, and my Ph.D. in English is from Ball State University.
I was a department chair of English at North Dakota State University and worked there for 12 years. My first job out of grad school was as an English professor at Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota. I got that job in 1999, and my main areas of interest are American literature, specifically late 19th and 20th century American literature, travel writing, and multi-ethnic U.S. literature. I've always been interested in literature.
What draws you to this particular period and those topics?
I started with an undergraduate degree in humanities at BYU. It was a pretty broad liberal arts degree. There were some literature classes, but also music history, philosophy, some history classes, theater, art, and things like that. I was interested in the broad humanities and arts.
When I got my master's degree and Ph.D., it was clear I needed to focus some more because I wanted to be a professor. So, I decided to go with literature and English because I liked the interdisciplinary nature of my undergraduate humanities degree, and English can be very interdisciplinary. The kinds of approaches I take to literature are fairly interdisciplinary. I'm interested in history and cultural issues. I took a cultural studies approach in my research, and I found that I could do those kinds of things in a literature program.
As for my interest in American literature, I grew up in Canada, so I'm a Canadian by birth, and we did not read much American literature in high school. I took a year of community college in Canada before I moved to the United States. When I got to the States and arrived at BYU in particular, I was drawn to the American literature courses I was taking. I was interested in American literature's cultural and intellectual history from early on, such as Indigenous literature. I remember going to the BYU library to read all of the American literature I thought I missed out on.
What inspired you to take on the role of vice provost for Faculty Affairs?
I would say that it's due to my experience as a department chair. What I mean by that is department chairs do a lot of different things, but one of the things that I enjoyed most was being able to find ways to support faculty teaching and research and helping folks develop their careers in the way they want. That's an aspect of this job that appeals to me the most. Working on a broader university-wide scale and considering ways to support faculty in their roles as both educators and researchers is very appealing and an important part of the role.
The initiatives we could develop as an office and share with the university would help faculty to be able to achieve their goals. The job includes many other aspects, too, such as conflict of interest and the promotion and tenure process. I feel like even some of those processes, especially something like promotion and tenure, are very much connected to faculty development. So, how can we make this process better for people and help them with their long-term goals? Enhancing how these processes operate within the university is one of the aspects that draws me to the job.
How do your experiences and background in academia influence your approach?
A lot of the scholarship produced in the humanities, at least in my field of English, focuses on interpretation — close reading of texts, analyzing them, and understanding their broader context. It also involves being aware of existing research: What's already been published about these texts, cultural movements, or bodies of work by particular groups of writers?
The question then becomes, "What can I contribute to push this field forward?" To me, that has always felt like a really interesting conversation. I think most people in academia can probably say something similar about their disciplines. Sciences might work differently, but as a literature professor, I'm constantly entering a conversation that started long before I got there. I need to understand its parameters and then think about my unique contribution. How can my research, reading, and writing help promote and advance my field?
This process of entering conversations feels collaborative, even though a lot of research in English can be a solo activity. The collaboration comes from engaging in a larger, ongoing dialogue. As a department chair, I often found myself reading and assessing situations, trying to understand different points of view.
This is similar to what reading does for all of us — it helps us inhabit different worldviews and perspectives and think about where our perspectives overlap with others. There will certainly be conflicts, but finding ways to arrive at a consensus is important. Differing viewpoints make for a stronger outcome than a single, solitary perspective. Whether as a department chair or a vice provost, there's a lot of problem-solving involved, and I think the approaches I've learned as a scholar of literature and culture also work well in these administrative roles.
What are your long-term goals for faculty success at 51³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ?
In the first few weeks of the job, I'm getting a feel for the role, understanding its parameters, and exploring what's possible. I'm learning which offices and people around campus I should connect with for collaboration. One of my goals is to make the promotion and tenure process as clear and supportive as possible. While I’m not suggesting it’s currently unclear, I believe there are productive and helpful ways to assist faculty through it. I’d also like to explore how university leaders — such as chairs and deans — can be equipped with the tools they need to support their faculty members in these processes.
On a smaller scale, something that has greatly benefited me throughout my career is being involved in writing groups. These groups, whether formal or informal, provide dedicated time and accountability among peers. In the field of English, and other fields, writing is a significant part of our work, and having time dedicated to writing and thinking is crucial. I'd like to establish one or more writing groups on campus that offer this kind of support.
Additionally, the university subscribes to organizations that provide similar writing boot camps and resources, and I see my role as making faculty aware of these resources and promoting them. One challenge is that people often aren’t aware of what’s available, so I want to increase visibility and accessibility for these support options.
I'm also eager to work on initiatives that support diverse faculty and staff. My focus will be on recruiting, retaining, and promoting diverse and historically marginalized faculty, including women. It’s important to ensure they feel supported and valued and have the opportunity to succeed in their careers. This support starts with the job search process — helping departments create inclusive and diverse candidate pools. Supporting leaders and faculty in these efforts is a key aspect of faculty success that I want to prioritize.
Would you say it is the biggest misconception about your role?
Regarding my job, I haven’t been in the office long enough to fully understand how it's perceived. However, I do believe that people around campus are aware that the office holds monthly meetings throughout the year for department chairs to meet and discuss ways to be successful, specifically with the Office of Faculty Affairs and with me. I hope the perception is that our office exists to help faculty succeed.
One possible misconception might be that our office is primarily focused on procedural matters, such as managing conflict of interest disclosure and other administrative tasks, which may not seem directly connected to faculty success. While we do handle those responsibilities, I want to emphasize that our main goal is faculty success. If there is any misconception about that, I hope to address and overcome it.
Tell me about an 'aha' moment in your career, a time when your perspective shifted.
At one point during my undergraduate studies, I was a psychology major, and we were each assigned a baby chick in what was essentially a research methods class. Our task was to teach our chick to perform certain behaviors, like pecking a dot on the side of its box or running around in circles. It was surprisingly easy to shape the chick’s behavior by offering rewards and taking them away — simply putting in food or removing it. I found this fascinating, but what disturbed me was the professor's suggestion that we should apply these methods to human behavior.
That was an 'aha' moment for me because I realized I fundamentally disagreed with that approach to influencing human behavior. Not long after, I changed my major from psychology, though I wouldn't say that class was the sole reason — it might have been part of it. More importantly, this experience helped me understand why I was drawn to literature. Literature captures the complexity of human behavior, depicting characters and situations in ways that go beyond simple reward and punishment.
What I appreciate about well-written literature is its portrayal of humans as complex beings, not easily influenced by straightforward methods. While I’m sure I would have eventually encountered more nuanced theories in psychology, that specific moment made me reflect on how differently literature approaches the representation of human experience, solidifying my interest in studying it.
What advice would you give to new faculty members who are just starting their careers?
I think mentors are really important for new faculty. I say this because I didn't have mentors when I started, and I often felt like I was reinventing the wheel and figuring things out on my own. This isn't a criticism of the departments I was in; there just wasn't a robust mentoring system in place. I managed, but it involved a lot of trial and error.
If your department or college doesn't have a formal mentoring program, I suggest being proactive in seeking out mentors. Look for people in your department you naturally gravitate toward. This might be due to your shared subject area, but it could also be because they have a solid understanding of how departments and universities operate and can offer guidance in that regard. It's valuable to have multiple mentors who can offer different types of support.
As a faculty member, you might have mentors in your specific subject area, but you should also connect with people who can help you navigate the promotion and tenure process. Ideally, your department chair will provide you with the unit bylaws — make sure to keep those handy so you're clear on the guidelines for promotion and tenure.
I also think it’s important to be aware of the collaborative opportunities within your discipline. Some fields are more collaborative than others, and certain disciplines can feel quite solitary. I encourage new faculty to make connections with their colleagues, as this network can be a great support system, especially during times when you have questions or feel isolated. It's helpful to have colleagues you can share your work with and get feedback from.
How can faculty members best utilize resources and programs offered by your office to advance their professional development?
I recognize that we are deluged with emails these days. It's easy to ignore them, and sometimes, to preserve your sanity, you have to. But, I encourage people to read the emails that come from our office because, hopefully, they will be helpful. Many of them will contain practical, nuts-and-bolts information, but I also aim to send emails that raise awareness of useful resources, training, events, and activities we're organizing to help faculty succeed. These might include details about institutional memberships we belong to or events that could be valuable to faculty on campus.
One particularly helpful resource is our membership in the . They offer many useful mentoring resources, but what I appreciate most is their "Monday Motivator," which is a weekly email you can sign up for. It’s designed to motivate you to find time to prioritize your research and writing, which is especially important for tenure-track faculty. There are also teaching resources for faculty whose roles focus more on instruction. Even if you forget you’ve signed up, every Monday, you'll receive a brief email that often contains something useful. So, I would encourage everyone to take a moment to read these kinds of emails before deleting them — there might be something beneficial in them.
Tell us about an object in your office and what it represents to you.
I have this Canadian flag magnet that I keep in my office. I used to have a small Canadian flag, but I don't have a place to put it now. I like to keep something Canadian around, so the magnet serves as a reminder of Canada for me. Although I haven't lived in Canada for over 30 years, I still have family there and go back to visit. I love Canada, and it’s nice to look at the magnet, or think about the flag or the Canada pin I used to have, and remember that I’m from there. I guess it’s just an identity thing.
What is something people would be surprised to learn about you?
I play piano, and I took piano lessons for 13 years. I'm not a concert pianist, but I took it very seriously for a long time when I was a younger person, and I still enjoy playing the piano a lot. It's a nice thing outside of work.
What was the last book you couldn't put down, a show you binge-watched, or a band you kept on replay?
So many books. Maybe I should say a TV show instead. I loved the series Succession on HBO. I was very pulled into that story. I think one of the reasons is that some of the themes of that show reminded me of the themes of survival of the fittest. That idea is prominent in late 19th and early 20th-century American literature. Even though the show is contemporary, it felt almost like I was reading or watching a long novel unfold that had themes very similar to the novels that I read and teach and write about.
