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Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Academic Leadership Shifts Over the Summer

COURTESY GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY
Kelly Otter will be the new dean of the School of Continuing Studies.
COURTESY GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY Kelly Otter will be the new dean of the School of Continuing Studies.
MICHELLE XU/THE HOYA Bill Rebeck is stepping down as dean of the Graduate School of Arts & Sciences
MICHELLE XU/THE HOYA
Bill Rebeck is stepping down as dean of the Graduate School of Arts & Sciences

This past summer saw the entrance of new deans for the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences and the School of Continuing Studies, as well as changes in the administration of the School of Nursing and Health Studies and the School of Foreign Service.

Norberto Grzywacz, who currently serves as professor of biomedical engineering at the University of Southern California, will take over for Bill Rebeck as dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. Rebeck had served as interim dean following the retirement of Gerald Mara in June 2013.

Grzywacz said he was interested in Georgetown because of its focus on adapting to the need for universities to serve as more than another source of delivering information, following the spread of Internet access.

“President [John J.] DeGioia and Provost [Robert] Groves … are paving the ground for a revolution in higher education centered at Georgetown University,” he wrote in an email. “This revolution will be based on the three pillars of the university, namely education, research and attention to the common good.”

In line with this goal, Grzywacz pointed to interdisciplinary programs as the central focus of his plan for the school.

“One of the goals of the university in years to come is to increase the size of its graduate student body. This growth will be in large part because of the creation of new interdisciplinary masters and Ph.D. programs. In my conception, these programs will focus on problems of high societal value rather than just emphasizing the tools of a discipline,” he wrote in an email.

COURTESY BILL CESSATO Patricia Cloonan is interim dean of the School of Nursing and Health Studies.
COURTESY BILL CESSATO
Patricia Cloonan is interim dean of the School of Nursing and Health Studies.

In the course of his transition to assuming the role of dean in January, Grzywacz will visit Georgetown for the graduate student picnic in September and an executive committee meeting in October and confer with Rebeck. Grzywacz plans to continue his research and teach at the university at a later date.

Rebeck pointed to the establishment of metrics in order to evaluate graduate programs as a major accomplishment during his term. So far, metric analysis has been used for masters programs, and the university is still in the process of forming a metric analysis system to evaluate doctoral programs.

“We have dozens of masters programs, almost 20 Ph.D. programs, and each of them need to know how they’re doing. Are they getting better? Are they attracting better students, more students?” he said. “This was not being done in any systematic way in the university, so the provost does not know which ones are doing well, which ones need more money.”

Kelly Otter took over the role of dean of the School of Continuing Studies on July 1 from Interim Dean Walter Rankin, who held the role for two years. Otter previously served as the associate dean for graduate academic and faculty affairs at Northeastern University’s College of Professional Studies.

Having worked in higher education, specifically adult professional education, for nearly 20 years, Otter found the position at Georgetown appealing because of the school’s Jesuit mission.

“The commitment of a university with a Jesuit mission is consistent with the goal of adult professional education,” Otter said. “We’re constantly looking outward to build bridges and contribute to the community, and to give back is what we do as educators.”

At Georgetown, Otter found a strong foundation built by previous deans like Rankin, who oversaw the transition of the SCS to a new downtown building.

Even with the recovery of the economy, Otter acknowledged that the SCS will face the challenge to remain relevant and active in the next 10 years, resulting in a strong focus on the importance of technology.

“A good part of every day for my staff is how we can use technology in our education. We need to build an infrastructure to support it,” she said. “It’s particularly important for the SCS, because people want to get an online education because we’re meeting the needs of people who often already have an undergraduate education and demanding jobs.”

Martin Iguchi stepped down from his position as dean of the School of Nursing and Health Studies on July 31. Patricia Cloonan, previously chair of the department of health systems administration, succeeded him as interim dean on Aug. 1.

COURTESY GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY Kelly Otter will be the new dean of the School of Continuing Studies.
COURTESY GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY
Kelly Otter will be the new dean of the School of Continuing Studies.

After serving on Georgetown’s faculty for nearly 20 years, Cloonan said she was excited about her new position. Iguchi was not available for comment.

“Enduring qualities of the school have kept me invested all of these years,” she wrote in an email. “I point to strong student-faculty connections, a tight-knit peer environment, innovative approaches to education and research, a values-based framework that is inspired by the university’s Jesuit identity, and a serious focus on an issue that matters to everybody — health.”

Cloonan credited Iguchi for strong leadership and a smooth transition.

“I deeply appreciate his hard work and dedication to the school,” she wrote. “During his time as dean, he launched a strategic planning process to chart the course of the school for the next several years. As interim dean, I plan to work with our executive faculty, academic leadership team, staff members, and students to advance and implement that plan.”

The School of Foreign Service is still in the process of finding a dean to replace Carol Lancaster (SFS ’64), who stepped down to devote time to recovery from a brain tumor. The university is set to announce a search committee for the permanent position soon.

“The process will take the better part of the academic year, so I would suspect that the new dean would be announced next spring and probably would take effect over the summer or in the early part of the academic year,” SFS Interim Dean James Reardon-Anderson said.

Robert Gallucci, who served as dean of the SFS for 13 years, prior to Lancaster, will return as a distinguished professor in the practice of diplomacy, after a stint as the president of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. He will teach one class each semester.

“I look forward to renewing acquaintances with faculty, staff and administration, and becoming an active member of the university community once again,” Gallucci said in a press release.

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    anonymousAug 26, 2014 at 5:35 pm

    What is the Iguchi story? Obviously he stepped down, but why? Why such a short tenure as dean?

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