MOORHEAD, Minn. – MSU Moorhead President Dr. Tim Downs has appointed Dr. Julia Poplin as the department's new co-Faculty Athletics Representative. Poplin will join Dr. Ellen Fagerstrom in the role on campus. 
 
"I am thankful that we get to continue to have Dr. Fagerstrom as our FAR and excited to add Dr. Poplin to that role. She brings great insights and experiences to our campus and athletics," said MSUM athletic director Chad Markuson. "The FAR relationship with the athletic department is vital to the success of athletics and this new structure will elevate Dragon athletics."
 
Dr. Poplin currently serves as a professor within MSUM's School of Teaching and Learning, preparing pre-service teachers. Her professional passion is the learning experience of every student while her scholarly duties at MSUM focus on education foundations. Dr. Poplin is invested in explaining, responding to, and reshaping education through as many different lenses and perspectives as possible.
 
"I am very honored to learn from Dr. Fagerstrom in this role as one of our faculty athletic representatives, and to continue to work for our student-athletes and our Dragon community in this way. I so appreciate the welcome, enthusiasm, and trust from Chad, President Downs, our MSUM community, as well as our sensational student-athletes to take on this opportunity," said Dr. Poplin. "I can think of no greater privilege than to be part of this significant and varied team that serves a common goal of co-constructing the student-athlete experience on the field, our classrooms, and communities.  Go Dragons!"
 
Dr. Poplin's prior work and research in athletics is extensive across several programs, making it both a passion and a professional practice. Her goals in working with/for athletics are to ensure there is symbiosis between the skills, passions, expertise, and stakes of being an athlete as well as the demands and trajectory of being a student and developing professional.  
 
"I am thrilled to have Dr. Poplin join me in this role. Truely supporting our students is a team effort, and having Dr. Poplin's energy and experience added to this support will raise our support of our student-athletes to the next level," said Dr. Fagerstrom.
 
She has had the privilege of working as an athletic academic advisor as part of the University of North Carolina system while a graduate student. In this role, Dr. Poplin helped facilitate ongoing academic success and navigating how the eccentricities of being a student-athlete can be part of the classroom experience. She believes that athletics is part of campus culture, and it can (and should) be a part of classroom culture. Dr. Poplin also supported the programs and initiatives that work with student-athletes who are finding their footing within their courses and balancing their varied roles.  
 
"I am thrilled to announce the appointment of Dr. Julia Poplin as our new Co-Faculty Athletic Representative. Julia brings an exceptional combination of academic integrity, deep commitment to student success, and a thoughtful understanding of the role athletics plays in the university experience," said MSUM President Dr. Tim Downs. "Her leadership will be instrumental in supporting our student-athletes and ensuring that our athletic programs reflect the values and standards of our academic community"
 
Dr. Poplin's research has spoken to the student-athlete experiences, including several publications. Most notably, her doctoral dissertation entitled: Meet Me at the 50: A Critical Discourse Analysis of How Higher Education Curriculum Meets the Needs of Student-Athletes, as well as national conferences through the American Education Research Association, the Literacy Research Association, the Experiential Classroom symposium, among others.  
 
Dr. Poplin joined the MSUM community in 2020 and has served on the Intercollegiate Athletic Committee since her initial hiring. Her teaching and research philosophies are built with the brick-and-mortar from Dr. Ira Shor's "situated pedagogy". This strategy notes the privilege and responsibility of teaching students as they arrive. 
 
A Southern transplant, Dr. Poplin resides in Fargo with her husband and vizsla puppy, Chai.