Sobieski named College of Liberal Arts and Sciences dean

Dr. Rodney Sobieski has been named dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences after almost two years as the interim dean.

Sobieski was appointed after a nationwide search.

“In our opinion, he had the best skills of all the finalists. He stood out in personnel issues and an understanding of the role of a dean,” said John Schwenn, Vice President of Academic Affairs. “I’m really pleased he decided to take the offer.”

Sobieski has a 28 year association with the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. He became associate dean in 1994 after 18 years of teaching biology at ESU.

According to Sobieski, the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences is ESU’s largest school or college, providing general education courses, major subject preparation and support to teacher education programs.

“We cover every subject from art to zoology,” he said, citing the college’s broad scope as its main strength.

“The diversity of who we are makes what we do interesting,” he said. “I can take a phone call answering questions about one of the fine arts areas and then the next phone call could be trying to find a solution to broken pieces of equipment in the sciences.”

As associate dean, Sobieski worked with a dean with a background in the arts. “It was an integrative relationship which provided an excellent mentoring process that gives me more confidence and credibility in questions dealing with the arts.”

Sobieski will lead the college into a time of growing demand for distance education courses. He said a main challenge will be adapting certain liberal arts and sciences courses to the internet and the videoconference.

“It might be hard to imagine music or art being taught by distance delivery, but in the past couple of years, we have begun to offer distance classes in both. I believe our future success will depend on a diversified delivery of classes combining elements of on-campus and distance techniques.”

He also noted that distance education courses tend to be most popular among students over 35 years old. He believes a traditional 18-year-old freshman will typically prefer an on-campus experience.

Meanwhile, Sobieski says the college will continue to provide the basis of a modern university education by giving students of all majors a foundation of study in many fields.

“It’s our goal, whether students are music majors or library science majors, to give them a command of the sciences, the arts and humanities so they can be informed citizens."

Last Updated July 2, 2007>