Mark Willoughby
Supporting Students
Mark Willoughby (HCB, ’06, MSMHR, ’10) spends a lot of time listening to students. Since becoming Haslam’s first director of student engagement in 2016, Willoughby has poured abundant energy into building community and keeping students actively engaged through programs that serve them—and he’s found that getting to know them is the secret to success.
“A lot of our focus is on listening and finding out what they need,” Willoughby says. “We regularly meet with a student advisory council and with leaders of student organizations to help inform our decisions. As the college continues to see exponential growth in enrollment and increased retention rates, we are trying to stay innovative for the ever-changing student body.”
A Knoxville native, Willoughby studied marketing as an undergraduate at Haslam and took a student assistant position in the undergraduate programs office. After he graduated, he joined the college as an advisor in 2007. Several years later, Willoughby moved to an assistant director role overseeing the Venture Living Learning Community and the college’s orientation program, but he knew the college could do more for all its undergraduates. “I wanted to extend some of the approaches and experiences we were implementing within those programs to the rest of the student body,” he says. He spoke with Lane Morris, associate dean of undergraduate programs, about the idea.
Morris was on board, and in 2016, Willoughby became Haslam’s director of student engagement. “Mark is one of the most innovative, human-centered leaders I know, and is a champion for students,” Morris says. “As we’ve built out the student engagement office, he’s been instrumental in connecting students with one another and with faculty in dynamic ways.”
“The college took a chance on letting me jump into this,” Willoughby says. “It was an unknown venture and there was a lot of willingness to let me be creative and try things.” Some of his first priorities included creating the student advisory council and developing a student engagement fair for students. He revamped the Haslam Business Building’s atrium with new furniture, making the area more attractive to students. As more students stayed and studied in the building as a result, Willoughby looked for other ways to connect with students, from curating the Haslam Headlines weekly e-newsletter and promoting student volunteering to starting a student-to-student mentorship program. Three years ago, Willoughby’s office also took on the college’s recruitment efforts, hosting prospective students and their families for campus tours. Their commitment to serving students guides their everyday work.
In addition to his main role, Willoughby also teaches a sports marketing course, leads a study abroad program in Costa Rica, and is working on a PhD in communication studies. His biggest reward, though, is seeing students succeed. “I want to be a trusted resource for students, someone with experience that they can relate to and turn to for feedback and mentorship,” he says. “Seeing their journeys, from when they walk into the building on the first day of freshman year to when they graduate, and being there for ups and downs along the way—it’s rewarding to make that investment.”
