Published: Mar 15, 2007
A new dean at The University of Tampa will keep students on track during the transition this fall to a four-college structure.
The
appointment of Dr. Jin Wang to dean of academic services is designed to
strengthen the already extensive academic advising system for students
and to combine all support services under one dean.
The dean,
who will answer to the provost, will make sure students do not get lost
in the system. He also will oversee media services, the Academic
Advising Office and the Academic Center for Excellence.
“I will
focus my time, energy and resources on academic advising,” Wang said.
“Given the rapid growth of the student population and changes in the
curriculum, I think students will need more help, so that is my first
area of interest.”
Information technology also is a high
priority, he said, adding that innovative teaching and communication
tools help students and faculty to become more efficient and effective.
“I
feel to better serve our students, you need to know all the resources
available,” he said. “Tampa is a wonderful city with a lot of wonderful
resources that we need to take advantage of.”
Wang serves as
associate dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at Rowan
University in New Jersey. Previously, he was associate dean at the
University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point. There, he gained experience in
developing cutting-edge instructional technology in classrooms and labs,
such as teaching stations that include VCRs and DVD players, computers
with Internet access, and document readers that project onto an LCD
screen.
“We were impressed by a combination of his experience at
other institutions in the areas of instructional technology and media
services,” said Dr. Scott Paine, associate professor of communication
and chair of the dean selection committee. “He is also very
student-centered, and it comes out of almost everything he says, which
is very important to us at UT.”
Wang’s leadership style also
impressed the committee, Paine said, with his can-do attitude and the
ability to listen to all parties. Since his is a new position, and one
closely related to the goals of reorganization, the dean will have the
opportunity to think about how UT does things and how they might be done
better, Paine added.
“After a national search process that
brought three exceptionally strong finalists to campus for interviews,
Dr. Wang was recommended unanimously by the capable and extremely
thoughtful search committee headed by Dr. Scott Paine,” UT provost Dr.
Janet McNew said in a campus-wide e-mail.
Wang received his Ph.D.
in economics from Kansas State University, his master’s degree from
Ohio University, and his bachelor’s degree from Zhongshan University in
China. Although he has been a U.S. citizen for some years, he was born
in Taiyuan, Shanxi, China.
He has published works on China’s
export markets, U.S.-Japan trade relations, and Brazil’s regional
imbalance and its implications for China. He is a Fulbright Scholar who
has studied in Brazil and Japan.
The new position was created as
part the University’s academic reorganization. UT expands this fall from
two colleges to four: College of Arts and Letters, College of Natural
and Health Sciences, College of Social Science, Math and Education, and
the John H. Sykes College of Business.