News
Roberts Welcomes Assistant Chief Academic Officer
Roberts Wesleyan University is pleased to announce that Dr. Marlene Collins-Blair has been appointed assistant chief academic officer and assistant vice president for academic affairs, effective Jan. 9. Dr. Collins-Blair brings more than 20 years of post-secondary academic experience in higher education and academic affairs to her new role, most recently serving as the dean of Houghton University Online.
“Marlene brings a strong administrative foundation and commitment to Christian higher education,” said David Basinger, chief academic officer for Roberts Wesleyan University. “She has extensive administrative and academic leadership experience in the areas of online courses, degree programs and initiatives, strategic and operational planning and collaborative work with accreditation compliance.”
As assistant chief academic officer and assistant vice president for academic affairs, Dr. Collins-Blair will focus on providing administrative leadership to the academic support units on campus. These include registration, the learning center, career development and the library. Additionally, Dr. Collins-Blair will oversee the development and implementation of all academic programs, provide oversight to all online course activity and provide academic leadership to the Roberts Educational Opportunity Program (REOP).
Dr. Collins-Blair received a Bachelor of Arts in Modern Languages from the University of West Indies Mona Campus in Jamaica and her Ph.D. in Spanish from the University of West Indies. She earned a Digital Badge and Certificate of Mastery of Leadership in Online Education from the Online Learning Consortium, a Diploma in Interpreting and Translating from Escuela de Traductores é Intérpretes Sampere in Madrid, Spain and a Certificate of Proficiency in Spanish Language and Culture from Escuela Oficial de Idiomas in Madrid, Spain. She currently resides in Dansville with her family.