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HOLLY WISE/Ledger and Times
Matt Wiggins is pictured in his lab, better known as the Exercise and Cancer Recovery (ECR) room in Carr Health. Wiggins will be leaving Murray State to move to Eau Claire, Wisc., where he will chair the kinesiology department at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. |
Murray State's Wiggins to relocate to Wisconsin
By HOLLY WISE
Staff Writer
Murray State University and the Murray community is losing an influential member when Dr. Matt Wiggins, professor in wellness and therapeutic sciences and creator of the Exercise and Cancer Recovery program, relocates to Eau Claire, Wisconsin next month.
Wiggins was hired to serve as the chair of the kinesiology department at the University of Wisconsin at Eau Claire (UWEC). It was a position that, according to Wiggins, he wasn't necessarily looking for.
In addition to being hired as the chair, Wiggins will also serve as a tenured full professor, a position that is usually acquired over time and process.
“Only a few people can do that. Most places make you go through the process,” he said. “They wanted me enough to get me everything I have here.”
UWEC is a campus of 10,500 to 11,000 students, comparable to Murray State. But the kinesiology department “is a lot bigger then what we have here,” according to Wiggins.
The entire department is centralized around exercise science, he said, and is “pulling in one direction.”
It is not without sadness, however, that Wiggins leaves behind his research, specifically the ECR program. But within those letters is contained not just research but community, friendship and dedication.
“The idea was to hopefully help some cancer survivors get strong and build endurance,” he said. “But so much more happens. It's a program to help people get their life back because cancer takes that away.”
ECR takes place in a room on the second floor of the Carr Health Building. It has been Wiggins' lab for the last three years where he has researched physical fitness and cancer survivors.
“It changes you for the better,” he said. Participants “realize you don't have to let this thing take your life away.”
As one woman exercised and others came in to wish Wiggins good-bye, he had tears in his eyes.
“It's incredibly hard to leave,” he said. “That's the worst thing about leaving is all the people you really come to love.”
Murray State President Dr. Randy Dunn praised Wiggins for his work at Murray State.
“Dr. Wiggins was a real asset to the University during his time with us. His ECR program extended MSU well beyond just the campus and in so doing he tremendously advanced Murray State's mission of outreach and community-building,” he said.
“Matt's departure to UW-Eau Claire is a loss for us, but a deserved opportunity for him professionally. His new home at UWEC has risen to become one of the stronger master's level institutions in the country and he will be a great addition to what they do there.”
The fate of the ECR program is unknown, Wiggins said. Jeremy Erdmann, a colleague of Wiggins', is going to try and keep it going. If Erdmann is unable to get the certification necessary for the program, Wiggins said he is talking to Murray-Calloway County Hospital's Center for Health and Wellness to see if it's a program they would like to take over.
“Right now the service is free,” said Wiggins. “If you're a cancer survivor, you come in here free of charge and get one-on-one.”
Nancy Dycus, an eight-month member of ECR, wrote a letter to Dunn, petitioning him to keep the ECR program going despite Wiggins' absence.
“We need security that this program will be here for us,” she wrote. “Security vanishes when you hear the word cancer... Murray State advertises that ECR is a ‘point of pride.' Murray State has always reached out to the community. Here is another opportunity to do more with the community and those who need your help.”
The ECR program is something that UWEC is very interested in, said Wiggins.
“I think one of the things that sold me to them was this program.”
Wiggins said the main faculty in the department have asked Wiggins if he wants them to contact oncologists in the area to get the program going.
According to Wiggins, the exercise science department at Eau Claire is committed to community programs and outreach as well as involving their students in community programs.
“I think they saw a good match with what I've done here with ECR and community outreach,” he said. “They want to be innovative.”
Wiggins came to Murray State after he graduated with his doctorate from the University of Northern Colorado in 1995.
“When you're there for 13 years, you think you're staying,” he said. “But the opportunity in Eau Claire was too good to pass up.”
With the help of his members, Wiggins wants to write a book to record all of his participants' ECR stories. An e-mail list has been created so that participants can stay in contact with Wiggins.
“People still want to know when things get published; they want to stay in contact. This program has developed a lot of relationships,” he said.
Wiggins will be moving to Eau Claire with his wife, Leanna, and their two children Mikala, 8 and Jonah, 6, in the middle of July.
Story created Jun 20, 2008 - 23:19:56 EDT.
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