University of Puget Sound Provost Kristine Bartanen will receive the American Conference of Academic Deans’ (ACAD) Award for Excellence in Academic Leadership on Friday, Jan. 25, at the organization’s annual meeting in Atlanta. The annual award recognizes academic leaders who exemplify excellence in academic leadership on their campuses and communities.
ACAD highlighted Bartanen’s achievements in a September 2018 press release announcing her award:
A group of colleagues nominated Dr. Bartanen at Puget Sound who consider her a “tireless champion for others so that they may succeed at making meaningful and lasting contributions to the success of the students, staff, and faculty at the university.” During her time at the university, her leadership in implementing a civic scholarship initiative has supported several distinct faculty innovations, such as Puget Sound’s offering of the only major in African American studies in the state of Washington, the Race and Pedagogy National Conference, the Sound Policy Institute, and the Freedom Education Project Puget Sound. …
… Additionally, while working to lead Puget Sound to a notable national liberal arts institution, Dr. Bartanen was steadfast in ensuring the university remained deeply invested and grounded in the local Tacoma community. She has been a strong advocate for diversity and inclusion, including hiring and retaining a more diverse faculty and supporting the success of students who have joined Puget Sound through The Posse Foundation and students from Tacoma Public Schools, for whom the university meets full demonstrated financial need.
Bartanen has been with Puget Sound since 1978 when she joined the faculty as an assistant professor of communication and director of the forensics program. During her tenure at Puget Sound, she has served in various leadership roles, including chair of communication and theatre arts, associate academic dean, vice president for student affairs and dean of students, and provost.
Puget Sound is also being represented at the ACAD annual meeting by Associate Dean for Experiential Learning and Civic Scholarship Renee Houston, Director of Institutional Research and Retention Ellen Peters, and ePortfolio Manager Elize Hellam. Houston and Hellam will present at an ePortfolio workshop on Saturday, Jan. 26.