Dear Scripps College Community,
I am pleased to announce that Professor Jennifer Armstrong has been appointed Interim Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean of Faculty beginning on May 1, 2023 and continuing until June 30, 2024. The College is grateful for Professor Armstrong’s willingness to serve as interim dean, and I am confident that she will bring experience, expertise, curiosity, intelligence, dedication, and compassion to the position.
Professor Armstrong was selected following a process that allowed for nominations and applications from within our Scripps faculty. The chair of the Faculty Executive Committee (FEC), Associate Professor of Writing Kimberly Drake, and the chair of the Appointments, Promotions, and Tenure Committee (APT), Professor of French and the Margaret McKenzie Distinguished Professorship in Modern Foreign Languages Nathalie Rachlin, as well as senior leadership and members of the Dean of Faculty Office interviewed, recommended, and approved of Professor Armstrong’s appointment. Thank you to the individuals who assisted with this process.
We are fortunate that accomplished faculty members such as Professor Armstrong are prepared to fill important leadership roles during periods of transition. As Interim Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean of Faculty, Professor Armstrong will facilitate the work of the Scripps faculty and provide oversight for the development and implementation of all academic policies and programs.
In this role, among other responsibilities, Professor Armstrong will:
- Represent faculty and academic matters to the Board of Trustees, the president, and other senior staff of the College;
- Advance strategic academic objectives, including reimagining the Core Curriculum in Interdisciplinary Humanities, the curricular community engagement initiative, the faculty salary project, and the Scripps-Pitzer science initiative;
- Oversee academic budgets;
- Advise the president and the Board of Trustees on faculty promotions and hires;
- Serve as co-chair, with the vice president for business affairs/treasurer, of the presidential budget advisory committee;
- Collaborate with the associate dean of faculty and the associate dean for racial equity; and
- Participate in the Academic Deans Committee and engage with intercollegiate academic programs.
Professor Armstrong has demonstrated her leadership abilities while serving as associate dean of faculty for the past five years, the faculty director of the Scripps post-baccalaureate program, and as a faculty member of Scripps, Pitzer, and Claremont McKenna for the past 20 years.
I am thrilled that Professor Jennifer Armstrong will provide her leadership skills as a valued member of the senior leadership team and an officer of the College for the 2023–24 academic year.
Please join me in congratulating her and wishing her well.
Sincerely,Amy Marcus-NewhallPresident