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Dr. Michelle R. Howard-Vital, interim chancellor of Winston-Salem State
University in Winston-Salem, N.C., has been selected to serve as the next
president of Cheyney University of Pennsylvania.
The Pennsylvania State System of Higher
Education’s (PASSHE) Board of Governors made the selection today at the
conclusion of a national search. Dr. Howard-Vital will begin her tenure at
Cheyney on July 30.
She will replace Mr. Wallace C. Arnold, who has
served as the University’s interim president since January 2004.
Dr. Howard-Vital was named interim chancellor at
Winston-Salem in July 2006. Previously, she was associate vice president
for academic affairs at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill.
She also spent two years at Edinboro University of Pennsylvania, as dean
of University College and associate vice president for academic programs.
She began her academic career in 1975 as an English instructor at Central
YMCA Community College in Chicago.
“Dr. Howard-Vital has had a long, distinguished
career in higher education,” said Board of Governors Chairman Kenneth M.
Jarin. “The experience she brings to Cheyney will be invaluable as she
prepares to lead the University into the future.”
PASSHE Chancellor Dr. Judy G. Hample also cited
Dr. Howard-Vital’s varied experiences as a teacher and administrator,
calling her “a talented leader who will serve both Cheyney University and
the Commonwealth well.”
“With 30 years in higher education, Dr.
Howard-Vital is well-suited to lead America’s oldest historically black
institution of higher education,” said Robert W. Bogle, chairman of
Cheyney University ’s Council of Trustees. “Her academic experience and
distinguished service to education make her ideal to guide Cheyney
University into the future.”
Dr. Howard-Vital said she is looking forward to
assuming the Cheyney presidency, promising to "roll up my sleeves and get
to work ASAP."
“I look forward to working with the faculty,
staff and students to support the teaching-learning environment at Cheyney
University,” she said.
As interim chancellor at Winston-Salem State, Dr.
Howard-Vital is responsible for providing overall leadership to the
5,600-student public university. She also assists in economic development
efforts in the region by serving as the University’s representative on
numerous county and city organizations.
Dr. Howard-Vital earned both a Bachelor of Arts
degree in English literature and a Master of Arts in Teaching degree in
English education from the University of Chicago and a Ph.D. in public
policy analysis from the University of Illinois at Chicago.
While at Central YMCA Community College, Dr.
Howard-Vital taught courses in composition, rhetoric, research writing and
black literature. She also served as the college’s coordinator of prior
learning and director of the College Without Walls program during her
six-year tenure. She was named project coordinator of the early outreach
program at the University of Illinois at Chicago in 1981, a position she
held for three years.
Dr. Howard-Vital was named dean of adult and
continuing education of Loop College, now Harold Washington College, in
Chicago in 1984, and, two years later, dean of continuing education and
non-traditional programs at Chicago State University. She also served as
an assistant professor of curriculum and instruction during her four years
at Chicago State.
She moved to Edinboro University in 1991,
spending two years there before being named vice chancellor for public
service and continuing studies and associate provost at the University of
North Carolina at Wilmington, a position she remained in for 10 years. In
that position she designed numerous non-credit, instructional programs and
corporate training programs to meet specific community needs. She also led
the Digital Communities Project, an experiment in international distance
education with Japanese universities.
As an associate vice president at UNC-Chapel
Hill, Dr. Howard-Vital provided leadership for postsecondary, nonpublic
institutions seeking licensure to offer degree programs in North Carolina.
She also coordinated the review of undergraduate degree programs at 16
University of North Carolina campuses and served as the state coordinator
for the Academic Common Market program. She served as the liaison for K-16
efforts as a member of the North Carolina State Board of Education and
reviewed doctoral programs in appropriate disciplines.
Dr. Howard-Vital has participated in state,
regional and national meetings and conferences and has published dozens of
articles primarily related to teaching and learning. She served as the
principal or co-principal investigator on numerous grants while at UNC-Wilmington,
and, in 2001, received the Million Dollar Club award for bringing in more
than $1 million in grants to the University.
She is a member of a number of professional
organizations, including the American Educational Research Association,
Association of Black Women in Higher Education, American Association of
Higher Education and the National University Continuing Education
Association. She also serves on the Specialty Studies Board of the
National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE). She has
served on such civic and community organizations as the Cape Fear American
Red Cross.
Founded in 1837, Cheyney University of
Pennsylvania enrolls approximately 1,550 students, including about 160
graduate students. It offers 37 undergraduate and nine graduate degree
programs and employs about 115 full- and part-time faculty.
With more than 109,000 students, the Pennsylvania
State System of Higher Education is the largest provider of higher
education in the Commonwealth. The 14 PASSHE universities offer degree and
certificate programs in more than 120 areas of study. Approximately
405,000 PASSHE alumni live and work in Pennsylvania.
The state-owned universities are Bloomsburg,
California, Cheyney, Clarion, East Stroudsburg, Edinboro, Indiana,
Kutztown, Lock Haven, Mansfield, Millersville, Shippensburg, Slippery
Rock, and West Chester Universities of Pennsylvania. PASSHE also operates
branch campuses in Clearfield, Freeport, Oil City and Punxsutawney and
several regional centers, including the Dixon University Center in
Harrisburg.
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