Last weekend, Dean Daniel Weiss announced the appointment of Sarah B. Steinberg to the position of Associate Dean of Advanced Academic Programs (AAP) in the Krieger School of Arts and Sciences.
This position was vacated in mid-July by Deborah Cebula, special assistant to Dean Weiss. Steinberg will officially begin her new role on Dec. 1.
Until then, Dean John Bader will continue holding the position of interim dean of AAP.
The selection of Steinberg was "a natural meeting of the minds," Weiss said. "Sarah is a very well-respected member of the university administration."
According to adminstrators involved in the decision, Steinberg's previous experience and involvement in administration made her strong choice for the job.
Steinberg already has 11 years of experience in part-time education here at Hopkins. She is currently executive director of the school's Engineering and Applied Science Programs for Professionals, until recently known as Part-Time Programs in Engineering and Applied Science.
According to Weiss's e-mailed announcement, the position of associate dean of AAP is an "important position, which reports directly to [Weiss], is responsible for strategic planning concerning all aspects of AAP, which has grown significantly in recent years and now offers 10 master's degree programs."
Steinberg's appointment is part of an administrative reorganization in AAP.
The intent of the reorganization is to be able to "serve students more effectively," Weiss said.
Weiss added: "The organization has grown incrementally and it was increasingly clear to us that we needed to think broadly and freshly...We did some streamlining and retasking of staff."
AAP's area of jurisdiction has also changed. AAP was formerly in charge of both undergraduate and graduate academic programs. AAP supervised intersession and summer classes for undergraduates, as well as part-time education for graduate students.
With the new restructuring of AAP, the sole focus of the group is now just part-time graduate education.
The undergraduate intersession and summer session programs are now under the jurisdiction of Dean Paula Burger, the vice dean of undergraduate education.
"Now all things related to undergraduates are in one organizational structure," Weiss said. "We feel that we can serve undergraduates and part-time graduate students better this way."
Steinberg has plans to develop and expand AAP.
"The first thing I want to do is to get a good understanding of what the programs are doing," she said. "I want to build on the current structure and help to grow the program. I think we have a great core set of programs and we'll be building on those."
She is also planning to increase AAP's connections to other companies and area organizations. In the past, AAP has worked with companies who want to provide their employees with additional benefits, in the form of university programs on site.
Other part-time programs on the Hopkins campus also provide this service.
"I'm looking to expand the partnership that APP has with area organizations," Steinberg said, "and get the word out better about AAP to different government agencies and other companies in the region that may benefit from our program, and significantly increase the outreach and partnership."
