Provost Lisa Staiano-Coico announced the appointment of Betsy Leebron Tutelman, currently professor of Broadcasting, Telecommunications and Mass Media (BTMM) and senior faculty advisor to the provost, to a newly created position—senior vice provost and dean of students.

“Betsy brings to her new role more than 25 years of experience as a faculty member and more than a decade as department chair. Her strong academic background and presence will enable her to successfully blend curricular and co-curricular activities, ultimately fostering students’ academic and professional growth,” said Staiano-Coico.

Leebron assumes her new position on June 1, 2009. The focus of this position will be on creating student success through partnerships with faculty across the campus. She will be responsible for Student Conduct and Community Standards, the Career Center, and the Office of Orientation.

“I feel strongly about continuing to nurture a community of mutual respect and a culture where students, faculty and administrators engage in discourse beyond the classroom, share ideas, listen and work together supporting the goals of the Academic Strategic Compass and the university’s core values—access to excellence and opportunities for success for all students,” said Leebron.

“Including graduate and professional students in the initiatives of the office will be another one of my major goals,” she added.

She also intends to better foster a sense of community for commuter and transfer students beginning with the orientation process and to incorporate rich ways of utilizing digital media to communicate with all constituents. Other planned initiatives include exploring internships on campus that incorporate research, global competency, or community-based service and learning.

Leebron has a long history of success working closely with students, both in and out of the classroom. As co-director of the BTMM internship program, she helped to place more than 2400 students. She also won a teaching award from the School of Communications and Theater.

Passionate about entrepreneurship, she served as founding co-chair of the Temple University League of Entrepreneurial Women and the Women’s Hall of Fame. Also, working with SCT and the Provost’s Office, she is taking a lead role in bringing a digital educational access channel to Temple.

Professor Leebron earned a Ph.D. in speech communication from Northwestern University, a Master of Arts in Radio-Television-Film from Northwestern and a Bachelor of Arts in political science from Goucher College. She is a 2008 graduate of the HERS Management Institute at Wellesley College.