Sarah Romanko, 2022
Innovation & Entrepreneurship Concentration
Adjusting to college life was difficult, so I am so grateful for Associate Dean Matt Polze’s support during my freshman year. As a freshman in the Davidson Management Honors Program — which Matt Polze serves as director — I was signed up for his honors Business and Public Law (BLAW 2301) class.
How can you tell a professor cares?
During the summer, Polze, who is a senior lecturer on the accounting faculty, sent out several emails offering advice to incoming freshmen like me, as well as helping us prepare for his class. Once school started, he would send us weekly emails wishing us the best throughout our freshman year. His emails were so uplifting — and offered advice and support even during tough times like finals week.
I always enjoyed going to Dean Polze’s office hours; he was always willing to help me out, whether it was academic or non-academic related. As a freshman, I was attempting to start a club, SkillsUSA at UT Dallas. I was struggling with finding our second advisor, and Dean Polze pointed me in the right direction. We were able to find the advisor we needed and officially started our club.
Recently, I reached out to Dean Polze for additional advice regarding SkillsUSA at UT Dallas, and he was more than happy to help. Not only was he prompt to reply to my many (and lengthy) emails, but he genuinely cared about helping me.
It makes sense why Dean Polze always has a line during his office hours: He truly cares about providing excellent advice to help his students.
Dean Polze always finds a way to stay positive, even when times are tough. In a recent email to Davidson Management Honors Program students, he encouraged us to “Never stop learning and growing as a person, no matter what the future holds.”
