Shari is the Vice President of Student Experience and Engagement and a Professor of Political Science. She joined the faculty at UCM in 1997, upon completing her Doctorate at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, Tennessee where she also earned her Master’s degree. She completed her Bachelor’s degree in political science at the University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee. Throughout her career at Central, Dr. Bax has advised several student organizations. She currently is a campus advisor for the Student Government Association, the university’s Sue Shear Fellows to the 21st Century Leadership Academy, and is the campus coordinator for the American Democracy Project, a multi-campus initiative of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU), involving over 200 campuses around the country in an effort to encourage and promote civic engagement. She is a co-advisor for the student group, Breakers, and as such has accompanied students on an alternative Spring Break trip for Habitat for Humanity for ten years. She has earned multiple awards for her teaching and work with students. In her spare time she enjoys reading, cooking, scrapbooking, traveling, and attending soccer games with her husband and two boys.