News
Tech taps veteran public safety expert for new lecturer role
Dr. Mark Warnick
One of the nation’s foremost authorities on public safety and emergency management
will soon join the Tennessee Tech University faculty in a full-time lecturer position.
Mark Warnick first came to Tech as adjunct faculty in 2015, teaching online courses
from his home in Macon, Illinois after a decades-long career that included service
in the U.S. Air Force and as a constable police officer, emergency medical services
(EMS) officer, fire chief, nonprofit founder and emergency management executive, among
other roles.
Now, the longtime public servant is doubling down on his involvement at Tech – moving
to Tennessee to teach in-person courses for the College of Interdisciplinary Studies
beginning this fall. Warnick says he has picked out a home for his family in nearby
Hilham. He will continue to offer online classes, too.
“Tech is a top-notch university in my opinion,” said Warnick. “Quite frankly, even
though I trained for 30 years in public safety, I can do more good teaching this to
students by helping prepare them to survive what so many face in public safety.”
Mike Gotcher, dean of the College of Interdisciplinary Studies at Tech, said the university
looks forward to Warnick’s presence on campus. “We are excited to have Dr. Warnick
join the faculty,” said Gotcher. “He brings experiences that will help our students
succeed.”
Gotcher added that Warnick will help Tech “become the go-to place for emergency management
training.”
Warnick’s course offerings in the fall will include classes on contract tracing for
public health emergencies, a class he began formulating in the earliest days of the
COVID-19 pandemic, as well as a class on surviving an active shooter.
His expanded role at Tech comes as Warnick – who holds more than 200 current certifications
in fire, EMS, emergency management, and public health emergency management – is also
set to release a new book in the coming months: “Preventing Mass Violence: A Whole
Community Approach.”
Warnick says he feels “great urgency” to share lessons from his career with a new
generation of students.
“Right now, we rely almost solely on law enforcement,” said Warnick of current approaches
to active shooter situations. “If we educate the community and involve them in identifying
disturbing behaviors that we’ve seen in those who commit mass violence, then we can
prevent a lot more.”
Even when instructing virtual classes from his home in Illinois, Warnick sought to
forge personal connections with students.
“I’m a firm believer that just because it’s online, doesn’t mean it has to be impersonal,”
said Warnick. “It’s a requirement of mine that every student either has a phone call
with me or a face-to-face meeting in the first week of class.”
Warnick also makes it a point to hold office hours until as late as 10 p.m., something
he sees as important for working and nontraditional students. Warnick completed his
bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees as a nontraditional student after he already
had several decades of work experience under his belt.
“I really pushed myself to the limit on that,” said Warnick. “I did all three degrees
in seven and a half years.”
Warnick’s career experience and academic credentials aren’t the only unique qualities
he will bring to his full-time position at Tech. As a disabled veteran, he also aims
to combat stigma and bring greater visibility to the university’s community of individuals
with disabilities. Warnick will teach classes and move around campus with the assistance
of a mobility scooter. He says he has been impressed with the university’s accommodations,
which included the construction of a wider door for his office.
“The thing that most able-bodied people need to remember is that just because you
have a disability, it doesn’t mean you’re any less of a person. You are still able,
just in different ways,” added Warnick.
As he looks ahead to the fall, Warnick’s goal for his next chapter at Tech is as simple
as it is ambitious. “I want to make a positive difference in as many lives as I can,”
said Warnick.
