Carl Lam
Staff Writer
“My college years went by fast because I was busy,” he said.
What Derrik Decker said is something that at least half of the campus, if not more, could agree with.
An adjunct professor of computer science, Decker has been with SUNY
Fredonia for 13 semesters. He earned his bachelor’s degree from William Jewell College in Missouri, where he majored in mathematics and chemistry. He later earned his master’s in educational leadership from St. Bonaventure University.
The reason Decker’s college years went by so quickly was because he spent so much time working various jobs. He was a lab technologist at a hospital while he was an undergraduate student and spent nearly every other day living in doctor’s quarters.
Decker returned to the Western New York area to further his education but there was a slight wrinkle in that path.
“When I came back, I was in a Ph.D. program for medicinal chemistry. I did a year, but I didn’t enjoy it. It wasn’t what I wanted to do; I intended to go to med school,” Decker said.
He studied at the University at Buffalo but found that the atmosphere wasn’t the same as William Jewell College.
“Coming to UB was a shock. And coming from a small liberal arts college, where everybody knew your name, you know everybody and I had Ph.D.s as instructors; it was just different,” he said.
Decker went on to work other jobs in the area and was also taking graduate courses in education from Niagara University. Decker wasn’t aware of how his boss at the veterinary clinic was going to refer him to a teaching job in Gowanda, NY.
“The reason he thought I might be good at it is because I had been tutoring his daughter and she was having trouble and we got her through the Regents,” Decker said.
What was originally supposed to be a way for Decker to save up and then re-apply to medical school turned into a long and rewarding career.
“I started in January and by June, I loved the job. I just thoroughly enjoyed it. It was never a question after that and I just stayed in that job,” Decker said. “ I started out teaching math and then got to teach some computer science courses. Along the way, I took more courses myself.”
During his 32 years in the Gowanda Central School District, Decker served as chair of the math department and the director of technology for the whole district. But that wasn’t the last time Decker would be in the classroom. He got a call from an old friend of his.
“I was off a couple weeks but my good friend, that was my boss at one point in Gowanda, was teaching here, Tom Taylor. Tom said, ‘You know, they’re looking for somebody to teach computer science again.’ I had been asked over the years a couple of times but I had always said I was too busy and when I do get home, I like to do something different,” he said.
With the intentions of being an engineer or doctor, Decker certainly didn’t have this plan of teaching in his mind when he graduated from college. He never even expected it nor did it cross his mind.
“Absolutely not. It was not in my game plan. It’s funny how things go, but I’ve always enjoyed teaching. Especially with the younger brothers and sister, it’s just something you do being the oldest,” Decker said.
The university atmosphere compared to high school can be quite different, which is why Decker continues to enjoy this experience.
“The students and I’ve developed some lifetime friendships. We’re very fortunate here; we have a great student body,” Decker said. “The next best thing is the people that I work with. I’ve made a lot of close friends. It’s like starting over in another whole group like a whole new horizon.”
Dr. Reneta Barneva, chair of the Department of Computer and Information Sciences, says Decker is always someone she can rely on.
“It would be very difficult without him here. For example, someone left the department and he immediately proposed to teach a new course that this professor was teaching,” Barneva said.
She also mentioned that he has taught up to five courses in a semester, which is nearly double what a full-time faculty member would teach. She mentioned that the variety of courses he teaches goes above and beyond what normal adjunct faculty members would teach.
In addition to his service within the department, he also serves as the treasurer for the United University Professions and is instrumental in the organization of the department’s annual high school contest, which aims to interest students in the field of computer science.
Sophomore accounting major Alicia Porack transferred to Fredonia and had Decker as her very first professor.
“This was my first semester at SUNY Fredonia. I was unsure about what to expect with this class. I knew a little bit about Microsoft programs such as Word and Excel, so I entered the class with an open mind. Professor Decker turned out to be one of my favorite professors,” Porack said. “He was always willing to help anyone who needed it and worked very closely with students to ensure everyone’s success. Professor Decker wanted to see all of his students learn and succeed and those are amazing qualities to possess as an educator.”
Albeit, Decker didn’t have teaching in his original game plan and many college students don’t know exactly what they want to do. He offered this piece of advice that he followed when he was an undergraduate.
“Try sampling everything. Don’t think you can’t do something, you may not be real good at it but don’t always let what your grade is going to be dictate what you’re going to try,” Decker said. “Usually there’s some room for some electives. That’s when you should try something you never thought you would enjoy and see what it’s like.”