Teaching since 2003, but in his second semester here at WCU, Dr. Travis Ingersoll earned his undergraduate degree in psychology with a minor in ceramics at Buffalo State College in Buffalo, N.Y. He continued his education at Widener University with a masters in education and social work and earned his doctorate in human sexuality, also at Widener University.
Ingersoll teaches four classes: Race Relations, Social Welfare and Social Policy, and Family Systems. He also co-advises the social work honor society, Phi Alpha.
When asked what he loves about teaching, he said the positive power professors have to influence students. He critically analyses everything in life and stays open-minded to alternative teaching styles. Ingersoll loves teaching at WCU. He said the things he loves most about WCU include, “the students and how they are active and motivated. They love learning.” Ingersoll said “WCU is a high energy environment,” and that is one of the main things he enjoys most.
He said his best academic achievement is getting this job at WCU. Ingersoll said this is a “pinnacle point of his academic career.”
His non-academic achievement is the formation of his company, Helping Hands Books. His company is now a non-profit organization and that takes old books from libraries and recycles them for profit. They give that profit to organizations that benefit youth such as Big Brother, Big Sister, the Attic, and Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP), among many others. His main goal is to have different chapters of his organization. Once this is up and running, he hopes to take used books from richer schools and give them to poorer schools. He also has the idea of starting a Scraps for Vets program, in which scrap metals would be melted down and sold. That money would be used for veterans to get any medical needs they may need, either reducing or completely covering the cost.
Ingersoll’s academic goal is to “explore sexual communication.” He wants to continue his research in sexuality. He wants to study what people like to hear in the bedroom from their significant others and then compare this to what people from other cultures think. Cross-cultural sexuality research is a main area of interest to him.
His advice to students is simple, “question everything and be critical and fact check professors.” He also advises, “pursue what you love and what you are passionate about.” He suggests, “don’t view undergraduate career as an extension of high school, but rather a very longer internship. “He would like to add that it’s important to play hard, but there’s a time to work hard too.
Ingersoll’s office is located in the undergraduate social work building on Rosedale in room number 200. Stop by and say hi.
Rebekah Balmer is a fifth-year student majoring in women’s and gender studies and sociology. She can be reached at RB649636@wcupa.edu.