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Announcing deans of new schools

August 20, 2024

Brick and concrete Roanoke College sign with white flowers blooming in the foreground and campus buildings and trees in the background.

Academic Affairs is excited to announce the four outstanding individuals who will serve as the inaugural deans of our four schools, set to launch in the fall of 2025. 

As you may recall, a Restructuring Task Force of 12 faculty members worked with the VPAA in 2022-23 to research ideas, gather feedback from campus constituents, and craft and refine our new structure, which was endorsed by the faculty and the board of trustees in April 2023. The goals of organizing our academic programs into schools are to encourage further interdisciplinary collaboration and innovation, elevate the visibility of our academic programs, and achieve some administrative efficiency.

The deanships are pivotal leadership roles responsible for collaboratively articulating the mission and goals of each school in alignment with the broader college strategic plan, "Imagine Roanoke." Deans will spearhead new program research and development efforts, help to coordinate faculty development and student success initiatives, nurture external partnerships and manage financial resources within each school, among other duties.

 The inaugural deans and schools are as follows (degree programs are listed alphabetically after each school): 

  • Dr. Alice Kassens, Dean of the School of Business, Economics, and Analytics
    Actuarial Science, Business Administration, Economics, Economics/Finance, Finance, Marketing, MBA, Sport Management
  • Dr. Wendy Larson-Harris, Dean of the School of Communication, Culture, and the Arts
    Art, Art History, Communication Studies, Creative Writing, French, History, Literary Studies, Religious Studies, Screen Studies, Spanish, Theater
  • Dr. Marit Berntson, Dean of the School of Education, Government, and Society
    Cannabis Social Justice and Policy, Criminal Justice, Education Licensure, Education Studies, Health/Physical Education, Human Services Studies, International Relations, M.Ed., Philosophy, Political Science, Public Policy, Sociology
  • Dr. Karin Saoub, Dean of the School of Health, Science, and Sustainability
    Biochemistry, Biology, Cannabis Science, Chemistry, Computer Science, Data Science, Disability Studies, Engineering Science, Environmental Studies, Health & Exercise Science, Mathematics, Neuroscience, Physics, Psychology, Public Health Studies

While schools may provide students with additional broad cohorts with which to identify, this reorganization of our academic programs will not change the day-to-day experience of students, who will still apply to Roanoke College as a whole and will be able to declare programs in multiple schools or change easily from a program in one school to a program in another. 

Our current departmental structure will still be in place for 2024-25; the deans will join together this year for professional development and begin their official duties in summer 2025. My thanks to the Academic Affairs senior staff and Dr. Teresa Ramey for thoughtfully assisting with the hiring process, and to all who took the time to apply.

Please join me in thanking and congratulating this power team! I look forward to working closely with these experienced, confident and collaborative leaders as we prepare to launch our new schools next fall!

Sincerely,

Dr. Kathy J. Wolfe
Vice President for Academic Affairs/Dean of the College