Dear College of Fine Arts Faculty and Staff,
I write to share the bittersweet news that Associate Dean for UTeach Fine Arts Roxanne Schroeder-Arce has accepted a new role as dean of the Chaddock + Morrow College of Fine Arts at Ohio University and will be stepping down from her associate dean position, effective July 13. It’s always exciting to see one of our leaders advance to an even higher level of leadership opportunity, and we wish Roxanne all the best in this new endeavor.
I am working closely with department chairs and UTeach Fine Arts faculty members on a transition plan and expect to have an update soon on next steps.
Roxanne is a graduate of our own M.F.A. in Drama and Theatre for Youth program, and she joined the faculty in the Department of Theatre and Dance as an assistant professor in 2010, where she has taught a variety of courses in theatre education and theatre for young audiences. Under her leadership as area head, enrollment in the theatre education major grew, and she played a vital role in organizing programming for young audiences by organizing tours of department productions in K–12 schools throughout Central Texas.
In 2018, she was appointed to associate dean to lead the college’s arts teacher preparation program. In that role, she’s worked tirelessly to support students by creating funding opportunities for student teachers and by offering a robust menu of professional development programming for our students pursuing teacher certification in art, dance, theatre and music.
She’s also worked to improve operations for tracking certification requirements for our students. Her team absorbed administrative functions previously supported by the College of Education, and she brought in field experts to observe our students teaching in the field, thus decreasing the workload for our own faculty members.
Alongside her teaching and administration of our UTeach Fine Arts program, Roxanne has remained active as a playwright and scholar. She’s the recipient of the American Alliance for Theatre and Education’s Anne Flagg Multicultural Award, the Higher Education Teacher of the Year Award from the Texas Educational Theatre Association and the Glen Baumgart Tower Award from the Longhorn Center for Community Engagement.
Please join me in congratulating Roxanne on her now role and in expressing our gratitude for her service and leadership in the College of Fine Arts over the past 15 years.
Sincerely,
