I am pleased to announce the appointment of Elizabeth A. Gill, PhD, as the new dean of the College of Arts and Sciences.  Dr. Gill is currently the director of the Honors Program and director of the Women’s Leadership Network at Randolph-Macon College in Ashland, VA.  She begins her new position at Canisius College on July 11, 2016.

Dr. Gill’s considerable experience in academia, as a faculty member and administrator, along with her personal sense of the Catholic mission make her a strong fit for the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead for Canisius. She has a track record of collaborative leadership across all academic and operational areas, advocacy for the value of student-focused experiential learning, and experience with programmatic assessment and institutional accreditation, all of which will enable the college to build on its existing strengths in the pursuit of academic excellence.

As chief academic officer for the College of Arts and Sciences, the largest of the three schools at Canisius, Dr. Gill will oversee 113 full-time and 129 part-time faculty, who teach in 39 undergraduate and graduate programs.  Responsible for enhancing the academic profile of Canisius, she will manage the implementation of new academic programs, and lead the faculty to further academic excellence in teaching, research and in service to their departments and programs. She will strengthen assessment measures to improve student learning, and develop and implement student support systems that improve retention.  Additional responsibilities include fostering interdisciplinary learning and scholarship, promoting service opportunities and service-learning components of academic courses and supporting the faculty as it implements and fine-tunes the college’s core curriculum.

To read more about Dr. Gill, click here.

Submitted by: Margaret McCarthy, PhD, vice president, academic affairs