‘Their Success is My Success’

Marketing professor Kevin McEvoy doesn’t mind putting in extra work if it fosters greater success among his students.

Each week he reviews around 130 student critiques in addition to student team presentations, a time-consuming task, because he believes that writing them helps students become more focused, better thinkers and stronger learners.

“I really believe the key to helping students learn is to put their needs first, and I try to structure my classes that way,” he said.

“Writing critiques of their peers presentations ‘grabs’ them early. They are more engaged and focused. They generate their own ideas and start developing critical thinking skills. Ultimately, I find that’s why their presentations are so good.”

“It’s a lot more work for me, but the payoff is in what students achieve,” he said. “I think they have a sense that I’m there for them and their success is my success.”

On Sept. 13, McEvoy was awarded the Stamford Campus Faculty Recognition Award, presented to him by Provost Mun Choi and Stamford Campus Director Terrence Cheng.

McEvoy, who has been a full-time faculty member since 2004, said he has seen tremendous growth in Stamford during the years he has spent at UConn, and thinks the educational potential for the Stamford campus is unlimited. He enjoys the diversity of the students in Stamford and the sense of unity. Many of his students work multiple jobs, load up on classes, and work very, very hard to complete their degree on time, he said.

“There is a commonality of thinking, support for each other and a dedication to completing their degrees,” he said.

Although educational requirements change, McEvoy believes in a well-rounded general education base.

“I think that undergraduate education is about learning a subject area while discovering who you are,” he said. “Gen Ed is important because through it, students learn about themselves. After that, while in business school, I have had many students who say they wouldn’t have taken a marketing course if it weren’t required, and then they fell in love with it,” said McEvoy.

“Few people will earn a bachelor’s degree from a university knowing exactly what they want to do and where they want to go. That exploration goes on through a person’s 20s, and makes them more successful professionals later on,” said McEvoy.

He spent years in marketing and sales, working for four Fortune 500 companies or their subsidiaries, and then consulting, before teaching and enrolling in New York University, where he earned a doctorate in business education.

Although the academic world doesn’t pay as well as corporate America, McEvoy said he has found a wealth of riches in what he does.

“You get to a point in your career where you want to pass along the experience,” he said. “Hopefully the next generation will be even better than we were.”