Photo by Hannah McIntosh
Susan Jackson Rodgers, a professor in the School of Writing, Literature and Film, has been named interim associate dean of the Oregon State University Honors College. She will replace Dr. Tara Williams, who has taken a position as dean of the University of Alabama Honors College.
Dr. Williams has been the associate dean of the Honors College at Oregon State since 2013. During her tenure, she led in increasing the number and variety of honors course sections, opening an Honors College option at OSU-Cascades, expanding faculty engagement and development opportunities and coordinating the preparations and follow-up for an external review of the college, among many other accomplishments.
“Professor Rodgers is the ideal person to maintain and build on Dr. Williams’ achievements during this transitional period,” says Toni Doolen, dean of the Oregon State Honors College. “She brings outstanding experience and the diverse skill set required by this critical role in the college. I am very excited for her to join our community.”
The Honors College at Oregon State offers outstanding and engaged undergraduates from across the university unique curricular, research and co-curricular opportunities designed to develop enhanced disciplinary and cross-disciplinary capabilities. Admission to the Honors College is competitive, and graduates earn an honors baccalaureate degree in their major field(s). Currently, the college enrolls about 1,500 undergraduates, with a goal of increasing total enrollment to 1,800 by fall, 2021.
The associate dean of the Honors College has a broad portfolio of responsibilities, including curricular development, assessment and operational oversight. The position has taken on a greater role in managing day-to-day program administration since Dean Doolen’s appointment as dean of the OSU College of Education in 2017, a position she will remain in through the 2019-2020 academic year. The college expects to launch a search for a permanent associate dean in fall, 2020.
Professor Rodgers has been a faculty member at Oregon State since 2008 and was director of the School of Writing, Literature and Film’s master of fine arts in creative writing program from 2015 to 2019. She is a nationally-recognized fiction writer and creative writing teacher and has written two collections of stories, a novel and award-winning pieces for numerous literary journals and magazines. Before coming to Oregon State, she taught at Kansas State University from 1992-2008, and during her time there, she was recognized with Kansas State’s most prestigious teaching commendation, the Presidential Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching. She serves on the Board of Directors for the Association of Writers and Writing Programs.
“I’m excited to build on the extraordinary success of the Honors College,” says Professor Rodgers. “The college models innovative student learning and engagement for the entire Oregon State community, and it is a privilege to join such a vibrant and successful part of the university. I can’t wait to get started.”
Professor Rodgers will officially begin as interim associate dean on February 1, 2020.
By Kevin Stoller: Director of External Relations and Operations, Honors College
CATEGORIES: All Stories Courses and Faculty