Teacher Spotlight: Meet Professor Evy Shankus
Professor Evy Shankus — from the Pocono Mountains in Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania — teaches in the Milgard School of Business and has been doing so since 1995. Her area of expertise includes managerial communication and human resources management. Dr. Shankus sat down with the Ledger to talk more about her back history, her passions, and some advice she gives to students at UW Tacoma.
Where did you attend college? What was your major?
“I did my undergraduate work at East Stroudsburg University in Pennsylvania. I earned a BS in Psychology there. I then moved to California and graduated with a MS [in] Industrial Organizational Psychology from San Francisco State University.”
When did you know you wanted to pursue your field of study?
“In 9th grade, I took a Psychology class and learned about ordinal position which is a personality theory that identifies common personality traits dictated by your birth order. As a YSS — Younger Sister of Sisters — I read the profile of traits and was shocked by how accurate it was given my personality. I became very interested to learn more psychology after that exposure.”
What classes do you teach?
“T BGEN 468 — International Business Field Experience [and] Global Studies classes. I have taught two of them recently. The first one was in Rome, Italy. It was called ‘When in Rome — Cross Cultural Communication in Italy.’
The second I just returned from was in the Netherlands. It was called ‘From Sea to Shining Sea — Communicating Corporate Social Responsibility at the Ports of Tacoma, Washington and The Port of Rotterdam, Netherlands.’
TBUS 310 — Effective Managerial Communications — which is part of the core curriculum that all business students must take.
TMGMT 430 — Managing the Workforce — an elective for management majors that is a comprehensive overview of the Human Resources Management Function in businesses.
TBUS 468 — Internship Seminar — for business students who want to intern in the field.”
What do you like best about UWT?
“I appreciate the dedication of our faculty and staff to make the educational experience as positive and meaningful as possible for our great students.I also appreciate that we have an extraordinarily welcoming and diverse community of students, faculty and staff that represent all walks of life and we all respect each other.Lastly, I love what the campus has done for the downtown Tacoma area in terms of creating a safe and prosperous commercial and artistic core that people can enjoy — even if they are not part of the campus community directly.”
What are some hobbies you have outside of teaching?
“I am an avid boater and love to jet ski. I ride motorcycles. I make handmade jewelry and collect rocks. I started my own jewelry business 17 years ago and now it is a very successful online business providing handmade one-of-a-kind designer jewelry to the retail market and natural stone jewelry making components to the wholesale jewelry maker/designer market.”
What advice can you offer to new students?
“Get involved, join a club, volunteer, get to know your instructors personally. You will be on campus for such a short time of your life and you really should make the absolute most of that opportunity to network and make friends on campus.”
Fun Facts:
– Her daughter now attends the UWT and she was actually in classes while in utero. So, she has been a part of the UWT community her entire life!
– Last year, Shankus launched a campus wide swap meet for students, faculty and staff to exchange unwanted clothes, books and household items, free of charge. She was able to make this happen with the Sustainability Committee and other student volunteers. This event is called “Kicking it Forward to the Next Green Door” and will take place every Earth Day.
-Shankus started riding a motorcycle in Kindergarten and still does.
