ASSISTANT EDITOR
Kherz’den Humphrey
Division chair, instructor, council and committee member, mother, grandmother, wife and friend. All of these words and more describe Nina Beaver.
Beaver has worked at Crowder since 1991. Since then she has worked full time as an English-literature instructor as well as being on many councils and committees. Beaver has also taken part in many searches to fill positions at the school, including president of the college and the Vice President of Academic Affairs.
As of last July, Beaver has technically been retired. However, she is still working part-time as an instructor at Crowder. She has been the Division Chair of the Communications Department since the 2006-2007 school year, but is retiring as of this year.
In her time at Crowder, Beaver has been a part of many accomplishments, but doesn’t take credit herself for them. “The department as a whole has accomplished so much while I’ve been here, but I can’t take credit for anything, we did it all together.” Says Beaver.
Some of these include the journalism program growing and changing, being the first department, division-wise to use pre/post tests to track goals, and the use of a customized Crowder vocabulary book.
Beaver has also done her best to be involved in different school activities, such as sports events, theater presentations, and art shows. She is a big supporter of the Crowder Quill, which is being dedicated to her for it’s 41 issue.
In retiring from Crowder, she will miss her coworkers who have become more like family to her, as well as all faculty and staff. “We are a family.” Beaver says. During her time at Crowder, she and her husband experienced some loss, and in response “the people at the college surrounded us and were very supportive.
Outside of Crowder, Beaver lives a busy life. She lives on a farm with her husband, has four grown children of her own and three grandchildren, one of which is fostered. For a while now, she and her husband have been fostering children; which inspired her daughter to do so as well. She also attends the Scotland Church of God, in the Scotland Community.
In the future she plans to spend more time with her family, which is a big reason for her retirement. Beaver hopes to travel more and experience more outdoor activities. Currently, she enjoys hiking and biking; and wishes to experience more trails and locations.
Beaver is a big advocate for her community. She and her husband do volunteer work for Watered Gardens, as well as the aforementioned fostering. Both of which she intends to continue doing.
At the moment, Beaver spends her time away from school working on their farm and babysitting her foster grandbaby. “I think that God nudged me in this direction,” says Beaver. She is able to watch the grandbaby that her daughter is fostering and help provide a sense of stability.
Nina looks forward to spending more time with family, but is glad that she can still work part-time at Crowder.
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