By Matty Leonard
In the summer of 2008, Dr. Tim Vercellotti began teaching in the Western New England Department of History and Political Science. But not long before that, he was on a completely different track.
Born and raised in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Tim Vercellotti took a step out of the Northeast and headed to the Midwest, spending four years at the University of Notre Dame. It was there that he obtained his bachelor’s degree in Political Science, graduating with honors.
Even with this degree in hand, he confronted a common confusion about where to go next. Vercellotti eventually decided to follow with his passion for writing. He attended Columbia University in the City of New York and received his master’s in Journalism with no intent of continuing his education.
After some searching, Vercellotti ended up back in his hometown, landing a job at the once well-recognized Pittsburgh Press in 1984. As a reporter, he covered politics and policy issues at the municipal, county, and state levels. Vercellotti craved the big stories but understood in this professional environment that “it [was] all about the pecking order, those higher up dealt with national politics.” He did, however, work his way up significantly during his time at the newspaper, eventually becoming an assistant regional editor.
Vercellotti held onto this job for as long as he could, even during a strike, during which Vercellotti’s paper lost 50 percent of its employees. The unions’ contracts expired at the end of 1991, halting the publication of both the Press and the Post-Gazette.
The shutdown sent Vercellotti in search of a new place to work. He eventually wound up at The News & Reporter in Raleigh, North Carolina, where, from 1993 to 1995, Vercellotti worked as a local politics and public policy issues reporter assigned to Durham City Hall. He enjoyed his work there but felt uneasy about his future in this profession. “I’d seen veteran reporters lose their jobs,” Vercellotti explained, “I didn’t want that to happen to me.”
This had Vercellotti question his career, which caused him to leave The News & Reporter and step back into the academic world. He was awarded a financial aid package at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, which covered the expenses of graduate school.
During his time at UNC, Vercellotti juggled starting a family with his studies. It was an extremely difficult and taxing process that ended up taking him slightly longer than usual. After seven years of rigorous work, Vercellotti graduated with his Ph.D. in Political Science. And once again, Vercellotti was on the hunt for another job, only this time in a completely new field.
He began his new career in teaching, becoming an adjunct instructor and assistant professor at Elon University for their Department of Political Science and Public Administration. His time at Elon was short lived though, and he ended up in New Jersey, getting hired at Rutgers University-New Brunswick. These universities were fine, but it didn’t feel like he was making much of an impact. “Working there was more of a research profession than a teaching profession,” Vercellotti explained.
In March of 2008, Western New England University, at the time Western New England College, had an opening in the Department of History and Political Science. But the move didn’t seem right; he had just bought a home in New Jersey, and it didn’t seem worth it to uproot his family’s life again. So, even though he received the position, he declined the offer. However, Western New England told Vercellotti that it would keep the job open for him as late as August if he changed his mind. This resonated well with Vercellotti, as he thought, “if this is a place that is going to give me this kind of latitude, it isn’t the run-of-the-mill university.” This led him to take the job and move up to Western Mass.
Being at Western New England University, he immediately fell in love with his new environment. “I’ve been a student at three different universities and taught at three different universities, big and small,” Vercellotti continued, “and I’ve never seen a place that has everyone wanting to help the students and help them succeed in any way possible.” He said that “[he] feels lucky to have co-workers that feel that way.”
Even now, Vercellotti wants more from his life and his career. He understands that “[he] always needs to improve [his] skills,” and stay on top of the ever-changing world of academia. He recently completed courses at the University of Michigan and the University of Connecticut in 2021 to enhance his statistical and analytical skills.
Ultimately, he has found his forever home with his family in Western Massachusetts, as he feels comfortable and happy in his surroundings. In 2023, Vercellotti won the Excellence in Teaching Award from Western New England University, thus showing he has fulfilled his teaching and research needs.
Vercellotti’s unconventional journey suggests that taking risks and exploring new ideas and opportunities may be the best route to personal fulfillment and satisfaction.
