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If Elizabeth J. Stroble’s leadership style could be summed up with just one word, it would be “collaboration.”
In the weeks since her appointment as senior vice president and provost was approved by The University of Akron Board of Trustees, Stroble’s days have been filled as much with information gathering as decision making.
“I believe when I come into a position that it’s important to learn about the good work that’s already been done, and build on that foundation,” says Stroble, who replaces Terry Hickey, who left UA in June to become provost at the University of Central Florida. Stroble first joined UA in 2000 as the dean of the College of Education, a position she will continue to hold for the next year.
“Clearly Dr. Hickey built an excellent foundation and it’s a pleasure to learn more about that and to see what I can do to extend that,” adds Stroble, who has been conducting meetings, both on campus and in the community, to do just that.
By the end of August, Stroble, who also has been appointed chief operating officer for the University, will have met with all members of the provost’s office, as well as all the deans and vice presidents. Similarly, she will spend time talking to individuals in various leadership roles across campus.
“The more I can meet with people and hear from them one-on-one, the better I will be able to network people across campus who have shared interests and to build some teams and some synergy among people who may not have even met each other because this is a large community,” says Stroble, who is the first woman in UA history to take the helm as provost.
Collaboration was certainly one of the hallmarks of her time in the College of Education. Her accomplishments as dean include helping to establish interdisciplinary partnerships, such as the Center for Collaboration and Inquiry, the Muehlstein Academy for Mathematics and Science, and the Center for Literacy.
More recently, Stroble oversaw the college’s review by the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education. The outcome of the review was so positive that the college has become a national model.
Stroble is a national consultant on the topic of performance-based accreditation. Her research interests are leadership, school and teacher education reform, technology and English education. She has helped to secure more than $1.6 million in external grants and contracts for the College of Education since July 2001.
Prior to coming to Akron, Stroble spent five years as associate dean and a professor of the school of education at the University of Louisville in Kentucky. Her wide-ranging activities included overseeing two school-wide centers and directing assessment and distance education initiatives.
Stroble, who earned a doctorate in curriculum and instruction at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville in 1987, is active in such professional organizations as the American Association of Colleges of Teacher Education and the American Educational Research Association. She also is a member of Delta Kappa Gamma, the international honor society for women educators.
In her role as The University of Akron’s chief academic officer, Stroble will be representing the University on the Board of Governors for Ohio Collaborative and the Board of Directors for OhioLINK, where she is chair-elect.
On campus, she will oversee a number of initiatives, including the completion of a successful NCA focus visit on assessment.
Stroble also will be very involved in the development and launch of both Summit College and The University of Akron Medina Higher Education Center. Given the inroads the College of Education has made in the area of outreach, Stroble feels well prepared to help the University move forward “to be responsive to our students and community members and not always require that they come to campus. The positive relationships the College of Education has had with individuals in the region and across the state, I think, translates very well to carrying that initiative on.”
Equally important to Stroble is the Institute for Teaching and Learning, established two years ago.
“Certainly the institute made some major milestones this past year,” notes Stroble. “Our designation as a Carnegie Cluster institution gives us now some networking capabilities, recognition and prestige, as well as the impetus to go on and do the important work around faculty development, scholarship of teaching and learning, and assessment of student learning as part of the first year experience.”
For the past two years, the institute has sponsored the Scholarship of Teaching, Assessment, and Learning (SoTAL) Symposium, a yearlong professional activity that gives a group of faculty members and instructionally related staff from across campus the opportunity to focus on current research in this area and experiment with innovative teaching and learning techniques.
“SoTAL is a wonderful resource that is not present on every single campus in the United States,” notes Stroble. “The people who participate in it are part of what makes it a strong resource. The institute would not exist without the dedication of faculty on this campus to engaging, student-focused instruction. I’m glad to support that.”
Other initiatives on her agenda include an increased focus on the first year experience — to help all students succeed — from a recruitment and retention point of view. “Our efforts in this area are part of the University’s commitment to success for the diverse nature of our student body,” says Stroble.
In addition to strengthening program development and instruction to support student success, She will be instituting a campus-wide program review as well as use of the Balanced Score Card in academic strategic planning. Stroble also will continue to devote time to building interdisciplinary collaborations with campus and external partners.
By the end of summer, the provost’s office also should have an updated Web site — offering much more detailed information about where to go for various types of assistance.
“We have a very good team here,” says Stroble. “It’s our desire to be the kind of responsive unit that this campus needs for the provost office to be.”
In the coming months, the University community also will find that “stewardship” and “authenticity” are hallmarks of Stroble’s leadership style.
“Our resources often are limited, so we have to be careful stewards of everything the University has to tap. That includes our relationships with each other. And, everything we do on this campus should have a real purpose and a real audience in mind.”
“It’s always been my view in life to look at things in the most positive way,” notes Stroble. “Take the long view — deal with the hard, day-to-day realities — but don’t lose sight of what we’re all about. This is a wonderful university. President Proenza has told us that again and again. When he came here he found out that there was untold excellence here, by objective measures, that we did not realize about ourselves.
“I hope to be effective in sharing what I’m learning with wider and wider audiences in ways that help us keep our focus on the positive and what is possible here,” adds Stroble. “It may be with fewer resources than we would like — that doesn’t mean that we can’t set ambitious goals and still meet them.”
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