Strong Leadership
Congratulations are in order for three outstanding new appointees! J.J Brown, vice chancellor for student development, Dr. Neva J. Specht, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, and Dr. Dane Ward, dean of libraries, were all recent selections from national searches for these critical positions. Both J.J. and Neva already have records of dedication and service to our university. Dane comes to us from Illinois State University. We are honored to have each of them. Learn more about each of these remarkable individuals:
Excerpt from remarks by Chancellor Sheri N. Everts
Friday, March 24, 2017
Meeting of the Board of Trustees
Plemmons Student Union, on the campus of Appalachian State University
Earlier this week, Provost Kruger and I announced three critical leadership hires: J.J. Brown will become our new Vice Chancellor for Student Development and Dr. Neva Specht has been named dean of our College of Arts and Sciences. Both have served Appalachian well for many years and will begin their new roles on May 1.
J.J. has served Appalachian with excellence and distinction as associate vice chancellor for student development and dean of students since 2010, and his passion and commitment to Appalachian and dedication to the success of our students are recognized and appreciated by the entire Appalachian Community.
Neva has served as interim dean of the College of Arts and Sciences since May of last year, and prior to that she held the role of senior associate dean for the college. She has been a professor of history at Appalachian since 1996 and has a long history of collaboration and leadership among her colleagues and with her students.
Dr. Dane Ward has accepted the position of Dean of Libraries. Dr. Ward currently serves as Dean of the Milner Library at Illinois State University, Normal, and brings a strong background in community-building and campus collaboration, as well as active experience as a speaker and author in the areas of library innovation, information literacy, and the curricular integration of libraries. He will begin his role with Appalachian on August 1.
I would like to take a moment to thank Leroy Wright and Mary Reichel for their leadership in serving interim roles in Student Development and the University Libraries, as well as Neva for her interim work in the College of Arts and Sciences while we conducted national searches for these important positions. I would also like to thank the search committees for their work, and recognize Trustees Branch and Howard for their roles on the search committee for the Vice Chancellor for Student Development. As Susan can attest, serving on a search committee in an academic setting requires significant time and dedication, and I appreciate the work our trustees, faculty, staff and students continue to commit in this regard. Thank you, Susan and Jalyn.
