Dr. Reginald J. Chandler, Jr.

Q: What is your favorite thing about working at Delaware Tech?

"My favorite thing about working at Delaware Tech is changing the lives of students! Helping and empowering students to fulfill their dreams energizes me. There is nothing like seeing students experience that euphoric moment when the lesson makes sense."

Q: Why was it important for you to work at Delaware Tech?

"It was important for me to work at Delaware Tech because I heard that it was the best place to teach. The word on the street was that faculty genuinely cared about their students and were encouraged to go beyond to help them be successful. I thought to myself, “I want to join that movement of student success!” Prior to working for Delaware Tech, I worked in private industry and as an adjunct for the University of Maryland Eastern Shore. I taught a Strength and Materials course that changed the trajectory of my career. After having such a wonderful experience with the students, I began to look for a college that would embrace my newfound passion."

Q: What did you do before working at Delaware Tech?

"I worked as a project manager in construction at multiple firms in Washington, DC and Wilmington, Delaware. I am privileged to have worked for an architecture firm, general contractor, and subcontractor."

Q: Describe your first day at Delaware Tech. What was that experience like?

"My first day at Delaware Tech was wonderful. The Engineering Department under the leadership of Dr. Lester Link welcomed me with open arms. He told me to tear down and rebuild the architecture engineering technology program. He gave me the professional freedom to bring the program up to the standard according to the National Architectural Accreditation Board (NAAB). Though NAAB is for five-year architectural programs, Dr. Link wanted to prepare our students to have an option to continue their education at a senior institution or work as an architectural technician at a local firm. After meeting with Dr. Link, I produced a dream plan of creating articulation agreements, revising the curriculum, establishing community partnerships, and initiating clear pathways from middle school to college."

Q: What changes have you seen in yourself since you started working here?

"Some of the changes that I have seen in myself are an improvement in management, delegation, and paying attention to the details. I am grateful that my supervisor and administration gave me room to make mistakes, learn from them, and grow into the person that I am today."

Q: What hobbies or interests do you have outside of the College

"An interest that I have outside of the College is that I am a Pastor. I oversee two congregations called Scott African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church in Wilmington and Transformation African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church in Dover. Additionally, I am a published author of three books, God, Help Us, The Little Book of Prayers, and The Acolyte Manual, and many articles."

Q: Do you have a favorite memory from your time at Delaware Tech thus far?

"A favorite memory that I have at Delaware Tech is watching my students graduate. Architecture engineering technology is an incredibly challenging program with multiple levels of math. Every year, I witness my students struggle with Precalculus, Calculus, Physics, Statistics, and Strength of Materials, just to name a few. At the end of their journey, they prove to themselves that they can do it as they rise to the occasion of graduation."

Q: What's something people may not know about you?

"Something that people may not know about me is that I am a major fan of two superheroes named Batman and Ironman. Both men lack superpowers but rely on their education to be innovative and solve problems."

Q: What are your future goals?

"My future goals are to work in administration and share my failures and success stories as an instructor. As the former Faculty Senate President at the Terry Campus, my vision was to have a collegewide faculty senate that would take an active role in curriculum review, innovation checkpoints, aligning constitutions to form one constitution, and pursue the rank of number one from the Aspen Institute. I believed that the faculty senate should not only serve as a place where faculty can be honest without retribution but also a place where we fulfill the mission of the College. In my view, the Achieving the Dream process is an initial step in pursuit of being the number one community college in the nation."