COM Professor Makes an Impact in the Classroom and in the Community

Not many college professors choose to volunteer their time to the community by moonlighting as firefighters. Then again, San Leon Fire Captain and COM Communications Theory Professor Dr. R.E. Davis is far from your average professor.

“People are calling 911 when they are having one of their worst days of their lives,” he said. “So if I can help alleviate the emergency they’re experiencing, it’s something I’m willing to put my time and effort into.”

When he first moved to the area, he went to the fire station to see if he met the requirements to become a volunteer firefighter. Davis then participated in a training program to learn the basic skills and has been volunteering with the department ever since.

“Being a firefighter has allowed me to see all the different types of people and places that the community college serves,” he said. “After my regular day job is done, it allows me to extend my service to people in need.”

During the COVID-19 pandemic, he also volunteered his time by working in conjunction with the Galveston County Health District to administer vaccines at the mass clinic.

In addition to his work as a professor, Davis brings all this valuable experience to his role as the Public Service Careers Department Chair at College of the Mainland. He works with faculty to prepare students for public service jobs in law enforcement, fire academy, criminal justice and EMS programs. He also helps the department reach its student success goals in recruitment, retention and completion, which he believes further enhances COM as well as its surrounding communities.

“We take people that have a heart for service and train them in a way that allows them to spend their lives helping their communities,” Davis said. “Students can have a career where they support their families, make a good living and also do fulfilling work that helps other people.”

In his case, being active in the community gives him a different perspective that he brings to his role as a professor, allowing him to be more in tune with the students he seeks to serve.

 “I think it has given me a greater level of empathy and understanding for my students, the communities they’re from and how to reconstruct my classes to meet their needs where they are.”

And this is the kind of personalized approach that students can expect as part of the COM experience.

“My favorite thing about College of the Mainland is the unrelenting commitment to student success,” Davis said. “I have students that have transferred from other colleges and they tell me that the COM student experience takes them in, helps them out and supports them throughout their degree pathway.”

As a communications theory professor, he reviews communication methodologies and research while also showing students skills that will help them across all professional settings.

“Particularly in Public Speaking, I teach students how to stand confidently in front of an audience and really tap into an amazing source of leadership power that will help them in their careers,” he said.

Davis does not want his classes to simply fill up spaces on a student’s transcript. He strives to teach in a way that has a direct and lifelong impact on his students’ career and leadership goals.

“When students come into my class, I want it to pay for itself over and over,” he said.

This is why it is so rewarding when former students check in and he sees how he has helped them achieve their goals.

 “When they come back and say I went to that college or nursing school or I wasn’t sure about the public speaking stuff, but now I’m using it all the time in my job, that’s probably the most rewarding payoff that I can get.”

Ultimately, Davis believes that the supportive atmosphere at College of the Mainland is a key factor in why his students excel in class and beyond.

“There’s something about COM in particular that builds loyalty and trust within our community,” he said. “I think students understand that the professors are there to take care of them, to make sure they succeed and to help them in any way possible.”