Title: Faculty, School of Firearms Technology
Highest degree and school: Bachelor of Applied Arts and Sciences, University of North Texas
Teaching at SDI since: 2020
Terry Collins has worked in higher education since 2014, serving as a police officer and master firearms instructor for a university near where he lives. In addition to teaching ballistics at SDI, Terry also teaches a variety of other courses in a face-to-face setting, including primary marksmanship, weapons handling and care, patrol rifle, patrol shotgun, less-than-lethal impact munitions, chemical munitions, and emergency medical triage. He is also certified as a Texas License-to-Carry instructor and as an Emergency Medical Technician. In addition to his bachelor’s degree from the University of North Texas, in 2016 Terry also earned his Associates in Firearms Technology from SDI and uses his own experiences as a student to help shape his approach to the courses he teaches.
Terry says the thing he enjoys most about teaching is engaging with students in the discussion board: “The discussion board is a less-formal environment to discuss the topics of the week, and I quite often learn something new every time.” He points out that the discussions give an opportunity to share a great variety of backgrounds and experiences so that students and instructors can learn together.
When he’s not teaching, Terry loves having adventures with his 11-year-old daughter and his dog, a yellow-lab mix rescue named Bishop. He loves the show Forged in Fire, and would like to learn more about the field of metallurgy. He also enjoys cheering on his local University’s student athletes in a variety of sports. An avid trail runner, Terry loves to spend hours in the outdoors – his longest distance to date is 37K! His idea of a perfect day is hearing from one of his students about how something from his class helped them in their professional or personal life. Says Terry, “One of our most important responsibilities as firearms professionals is to take the information we learn and collect and use it to the benefit of our customers as well as pass it on to future generations.”