Two VMI Faculty Named All Southern Conference

Two faculty members at Virginia Military Institute have been named to the All-Southern Conference Faculty and Staff Team for the 2024-25 academic year.

Mattie Queensbury Smith, Ph.D., instructor in the Department of English, Rhetoric, and Humanistic Studies at VMI and recently appointed poet laureate for the Commonwealth of Virginia; and Col. Shannon Eskam, assistant superintendent for strategic enrollment management/director of financial aid; were recognized Feb. 8 during the VMI basketball team’s home game against The Citadel.

Smith joined VMI in 2013. She teaches Writing and Rhetoric I & II throughout the academic year and summer sessions. She holds a doctorate in education, curriculum and instruction with a concentration in Integrative STEM Education (I-STEM Ed.) from Virginia Tech. Smith uses the I-STEM Ed. model in her classes to develop cross-disciplinary writing in which cadets explore issues related to their majors and career interests. Smith encourages her students to submit works to literary journals.

As a recipient of a 2023-2024 Cyber-Grant awarded by VMI’s Cyber Defense Laboratory, Smith, with Stephen A. Ralis ’25, wrote a literature review of research regarding cyber tools used to support critical reflective writing within technology and engineering design-based, problem-solving activities. Smith and Ralis presented their review at the Writing Education Across Borders Conference in Salt Lake City, Utah, last September.

As founding member and executive vice president of the Rockbridge-Shenandoah Chapter for the Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association, Smith facilitates local community outreach and education through community development activities dedicated to emerging leaders in STEM and cyberrelated fields at VMI and surrounding colleges. She has mentored cadets and other college students volunteering to present microbits microprocessor coding challenges in five local elementary schools. Her collaboration with colleagues in VMI’s Department of Computer and Information Sciences has expanded programs shared by AFCEA and VMI, including mentorships with industry and agency professionals dedicated to national cybersecurity and local technological innovation.

Eskam began her career at VMI in 2022. She oversees the office of admissions, the office of financial aid, cadet marketing and helps coordinate post-wide retention efforts. She is responsible for developing, implementing and overseeing the execution of the multi-year comprehensive strategic enrollment management plan, and ensuring compliance with Title IV and other relevant state and federal laws and regulations. Serving as a liaison to VMI athletics, she upholds National Collegiate Athletics Association and Southern Conference rules.

She came to Lexington from Casper, Wyoming, where she served as the director of financial aid, deputy Title IX coordinator, enrollment services supervisor and veterans affairs certifying official at Casper College. Prior to Casper College, she worked at Gillette College in Gillette, Wyoming, as the assistant director of financial aid services.

Eskam earned her doctorate degree in higher education administration and a bachelor’s degree in communication with an emphasis in marketing from the University of Wyoming in Laramie. She holds a master’s degree in organizational management from Chadron State College in Chadron, Nebraska.

She and her husband reside in Lexington with their two schoolaged children and three dogs.