Camille Fronk Olson is quickly adjusting to her new administrative responsibilities as the chair of the Department of Ancient Scripture. On the two-month mark of her appointment, we asked Sister Olson to talk about some of her goals for the department. She responded, “I inherited this office in incredibly good shape. The former department chairs, and especially my predecessor, Dennis Largey, did amazing things to put the department in a very positive, good light. I want to keep the department going in that appropriate direction.” Now that Olson has had some time to settle in, she is turning her attention to setting some goals with the desired outcome of helping the faculty continue developing in the areas of citizenship, scholarship, and teaching.

The department, under Olson’s direction, wants to encourage citizenship among the faculty by cultivating an environment of support and mentoring. Olson illustrated how the presence or absence of mentors has colored her own experiences: “I was dean of students at LDS Business College. That was my first real stint with administration. I realized and learned from that experience what a difference it makes to have administrative support and mentors around, because I was on my own there. Here [at BYU] the administrative support has made all the difference in the world.”

Though Olson says her current position is one she would never have seen herself in, the help and support she has received from the academic vice presidents; the former department chairs; the faculty; the associate department chair, Kerry Muhlestein; and the department secretary, Jeanine Ehat, have been invaluable to her. Of Muhlestein, she said, “If I’ve done anything that’s of value thus far, it was being wise enough to choose him as the associate department chair. I have always admired and respected his scholarship and integrity, but he’s even better than I had hoped—very supportive, very insightful, and a hard worker.”

Olson wants to encourage the faculty to cultivate a similar atmosphere of mutual support and camaraderie with each other. With the addition of six new faculty members, the average age in the department has dropped significantly, providing an opportunity for recent hires and more experienced professors to either learn from each other or compete against each other. “There have been some great examples and mentors among the faculty,” Olson acknowledged. “We have a very diverse faculty. That is one of our greatest strengths, but it is also challenging to be aware of what everyone is doing and to better recognize how we can be supportive of them.” Sometimes a tendency to become competitive can arise, but Olson encourages the professors of ancient scripture to recognize the contributions that various faculty members are making in their respective fields and to avoid fostering any negative competition.

The department has also set a goal to encourage the faculty to deepen their scholarship. Olson wants to help faculty members “who haven’t really found a niche to lose themselves in and make their contribution in scholarship.” All faculty members will benefit from finding such a niche or regaining their enthusiasm for the work they are currently doing.

Olson appreciates the dedication and excitement that the newer faculty members are expressing for their research. They have demonstrated a willingness to meet the rising expectations in scholarship. “We really do have a deeper requirement now,” Olson said, “to do more serious scholarship and to speak to a larger audience.” The new faculty members have been enthusiastic in working towards these goals, and Olson hopes “we can let the new faculty rekindle our commitment to scholarship.”

Sharing resources can help everyone as the university’s expectations are raised for both the individual and the department as a whole. “I was down in one of those new faculty offices earlier,” Olson mentioned. A book in that faculty member’s office caught her eye. He loaned her the book, and they discussed “some of the ways he has used it in the past.” Olson expressed interest in seeing “what we [as a department] can do in working together or at least helping each other with resources.”

The Department of Ancient Scripture would like to do everything it can to help professors find the necessary resources and the time to delve into research and scholarship. Better utilizing the expertise of the professional teachers on the faculty will help open the schedules of the faculty members who need more time for research. In other instances, the department may need to encourage faculty members to do more research so that the goals of the department can be reached.

The department would also like to encourage the faculty to become better teachers by experimenting with teaching books of scripture that they have not taught for a while. “I would like to see us develop a broader expertise in what we teach,” said Olson. “It is really easy to get into a groove of teaching one book of scripture—we can get really good at whatever that one book of scripture is—but if we can teach another book of scripture it will always enhance what we are able to see in the other one. It takes more effort to do that,” she acknowledged. “A lot of us were doing more of that early on, but when we get more into our research, we often narrow the courses we teach. I want to encourage faculty to add, for example, a Book of Mormon class in their schedule if they haven’t taught the Book of Mormon for some time, . . . or if they teach all Book of Mormon classes, to think what it would be to teach an Old Testament class, a second half of the New Testament class, or a Pearl of Great Price class.”

As part of this teaching goal, the department would like to encourage professors of ancient scripture to consider teaching the Pearl of Great Price if they have not. This book of scripture can be especially challenging to teach because, as Olson pointed out, “it draws from every period in the history of the world and requires expertise in the Old Testament, New Testament, and LDS Church History.” Moreover, some professors who taught the Pearl of Great Price for many years have recently retired, so Olson would like to see others “gear up to teach those classes.” The department is planning an in-service on the Pearl of Great Price to prepare more of the faculty to teach these classes.

The department hopes the faculty will take these goals to heart and aim to become better citizens, scholars, and teachers. Olson appreciates the incredible work that her faculty are already doing. “Our faculty have just been remarkable. They are a great group of faculty to work with,” she said, concluding that the department has “every reason to hope” that they will continue to develop in positive directions.

In contemplation of the progression and goals of the department, Olson took a moment to reflect on the new perspective she has gained in her first two months on the administrative side of the College of Religion. “When you get in a position of responsibility for your colleagues, I think you perceive people—and the whole world of ancient scripture in this case—differently,” she said. Though Olson has faced the normal challenges of adjusting to a new set of responsibilities and expectations, she said that she is comforted that “in a sense, it feels like the true department chair is not me.” She has seen the hand of the Lord in the doings of the Department of Ancient Scripture. “I believe that God is mindful of this university and this department,” she said. “In small but significant ways, I have sensed a tremendous concern and involvement from on High.” Olson has been able to witness how much the Lord “loves this faculty . . . and really cares about the students in ancient scripture classes. He is preparing and sending some absolutely amazing people to be part of the Department of Ancient Scripture, and I can see it. It is very humbling,”

We look forward to seeing what the Department of Ancient Scripture will be able accomplish in the coming semesters under Olson’s guidance.