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Big Ten Academic Alliance Department Executive Officer Program

Big Ten Academic Alliance Department Executive Officer Program 

This leadership development program focuses on departmental leadership skills and problem-solving for those relatively new to their role. The goals of the DEO Program are to: 

  1. Facilitate the development of academic unit leaders through the provision of a structured educational program focused on key leadership skills and competencies;
  2. Develop a cadre of highly trained and motivated individuals who will be effective leaders on their own campuses; and
  3. Create a community of academic unit leaders who engage with one another regarding critical issues across Big Ten Academic Alliance universities.

The program follows a hybrid format, combining three live virtual sessions with an immersive three-day, in-person workshop in Chicago in November.

The DEO Seminars are managed by Big Ten Academic Alliance office staff, and programming is developed by liaisons from the Offices of the Provosts across our universities. To read more about the seminars, visit the Big Ten Academic Alliance DEO webpage.
 

Qualifications

Each year, MSU sends five chairs, school directors, or associate deans with similar responsibilities to attend this program.

Potential participants must have served at least one year (but no more than four) as a department chair, school director, or associate dean in a non-departmentally organized college.
 

Application

Interested applicants need to submit a letter (two pages maximum) explaining why they are interested in this program and how it will help them navigate their current role. This letter should include a brief synopsis of the applicant’s leadership trajectory (where they have been and ideas about where they want to go), an overview of the issues they see as critical for leaders in similar roles, and a statement about their commitment to MSU.

Information about the upcoming application period will be provided at a later date.
 

Current DEO Participants

Kristen Bieda

  • Interm Chair, Teacher Education and Professor, College of Education

Edward Brown

  • Interim Chairperson, Professor, Computational Mathematics, Science and Engineering, College of Engineering

Rachel Minkin

  • Associate Dean for Teaching and Learning, MSU Libraries

Mitra Paola Leo Arizmendi

  • Associate Dean for Inclusive Excellence and Academic Innovation, Lyman Briggs College

Peter Savolainen

  • Chairperson, MSU Research Foundation Distinguished Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering, College of Engineering

Past DEO Participants

  • Catherine Donahue, Professor and Chairperson, Department of Osteopathic Manipulative Medicine, College of Osteopathic Medicine, donahu54@msu.edu
  • Jason Huang, Professor and Director, School of Human Resources and Labor Relations, College of Social Science, huangj1@msu.edu
  • Kevin McGraw, Professor and Chairperson, Department of Integrative Biology, College of Natural Science, mcgrawk5@msu.edu
  • Jennifer Schmidt, Professor and Chairperson, Department of Counseling, Educational Psychology and Special Education, College of Education, jaschmid@msu.edu
  • Andrea Wittenborn, Professor and Chairperson, Department of Human Development and Family Studies, College of Social Science, andreaw@msu.edu 
  • Hannah Burrack, Professor and Chairperson, Department of Entomology, College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, burrackh@msu.edu
  • Andrea Case, Professor and Chairperson, Department of Plant Biology, College of Natural Science, caseand4@msu.edu
  • Chad Cotti, Professor and Chairperson, Department of Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics, College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, cotticha@msu.edu
  • Olorunseun O. Ogunwobi, Professor and Chairperson, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, College of Natural Science, ogunwob1@msu.edu
  • Minami Yoda, Professor and Chairperson, Department of Mechanical Engineering, College of Engineering, yodamina@msu.edu 
  • Anne Dorrance, Chair, Pharmacology Toxicology, College of Osteopathic Medicine, dorranc3@msu.edu
  • Terese Monberg, Associate Dean, Dean’s Office, Residential College in the Arts and Humanities, tmonberg@msu.edu
  • Jeffrey Schenker, Chair, Mathematics, College of Natural Science, schenke6@msu.edu
  • William Zimmerman, Chair, Osteopathic Surgical Specialities, College of Osteopathic Medicine, zimme318@msu.edu 
  • Rob Fowkes, Chair, Small Animal Clinical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine
  • Anthony Grubbs, Chair, Romance and Classical Studies, College of Arts & Letters
  • Anne Hughes, School Director, Social Work, College of Social Science
  • Karthik Namasivayam, School Director, Hospitality Business, Eli Broad College of Business
  • Annette O’Connor, Chair, Large Animal Clinical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine
  • Ruth Nicole Brown, Chair, African American and African Studies, College of Arts & Letters
  • Dorinda Carter Andrews, Chair, Teacher Education, College of Education
  • Matthew Daum, School Director, Packaging, College of Agriculture and Natural Resources
  • Yin-Hwei Lin, Chair, Linguistics, Languages, and Cultures, College of Arts & Letters
  • Aaron McCright, Chair, Sociology, College of Social Science
  • Sheneka Williams, Chair, Educational Administration, College of Education

Canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

  • Rebecca Jordan, Chair, Community Sustainability, College of Agriculture and Natural Resources
  • Jacqueline Rhodes, Chair, Writing, Rhetoric, and American Cultures (WRAC), College of Arts & Letters
  • Cary Roseth, Chair, Counseling, Educational Psychology and Special Education, College of Education
  • Nancy Turner, Chair, Animal Science, College of Agriculture and Natural Resources
  • Steve Zepf, Chair, Physics and Astronomy, College of Natural Science
  • Brent Donnellan, Chair, Psychology, College of Social Science
  • Chris Hogan, Chair, Accounting and Information Systems, Eli Broad College of Business
  • Doug Hughes, Chair, Marketing, Eli Broad College of Business
  • James Klausner, Chair, Mechanical Engineering, College of Engineering
  • Venkatesh Kodur, Chair, Civil and Environmental Engineering, College of Engineering
  • Srinand Sreevatsan, Chair, Pathobiology Diagnostic Investigation, College of Veterinary Medicine
  • Andrew Christlieb, Chair, Computational Mathematics, Science and Engineering, College of Engineering, College of Natural Science
  • Cara Cilano, Chair, English, College of Arts & Letters
  • Bari Olivier, Chair, Small Animal Clinical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine
  • Malea Powell, Chair, Writing, Rhetoric, and American Cultures, College of Arts & Letters
  • Danny Schnell, Chair, Plant Biology, College of Natural Science
  • Bengt Arnetz, Chair, Family Medice, College of Human Medicine
  • Titus Awokuse, Chair, Agriculture, Food and Resource Economics, College of Agriculture and Natural Resources
  • Kristi Bowman, Associate Dean, Academic Affairs, College of Law
  • Sonja Fritzsche, Chair, Linguistics and Languages, College of Arts & Letters
  • John Papapolymerou, Chair, Electrical and Computer Engineering, College of Engineering