DR. KIMBERLY TOBIN
WESTFIELD – Westfield State University saw great change in 2013, a trend that continues into the new year.
The school announced two appointments Thursday which had been effective since mid-December, as Dr. Marsha Marotta and Dr. Kimberly Tobin have been appointed to the offices of Interim Vice President for Academic Affairs and Interim Vice President for Administration and Finance, respectively.
Marotta, a former chair of the Department of Political Science, has spent the past five years in the capacity of Dean of Undergraduate Studies, and brings “a wealth of administrative leadership to the position” according to a release from the university yesterday.
Marotta’s responsibilities included overseeing the university’s international programs, student success programming through the Academic Achievement Department’s student support services and the Honors Program, as well as the Registrar’s Office.
She also secured multi-year grants to establish a civic engagement initiative, boosted student retention efforts, and led the creation of first-year student success program. She joined the university in 1998 in the Department of Political Science after a career as a journalist and city editor.
Tobin began her career at Westfield State in 1998 as a faculty member, eventually serving as the chair of the Criminal Justice Department.
Since 2008, Tobin has served as Dean of the Division of Graduate and Continuing Education (DGCE), a unit that is home to the university’s non-state supported programming, including graduate programs, academic programming for non-traditional students, youth summer programs, and professional development programming. Under her leadership the DGCE has increased student enrollment by 42 percent and net revenue by approximately 400 percent.
“Both Marsha and Kim have played leadership roles, collaborated on a number of important university projects in recent years and bring broad, deep experience to the administration,” said Dr. Elizabeth H. Preston, interim president of Westfield State University. “Our students remain positive, our faculty is strong and our administration is stable. There is work to be done and I look forward to working side by side with Marsha, Kim and others to advance the mission of Westfield State.”
Other interim appointments which have been made on Western Avenue include those of Dr. Andrew Bonacci and Dr. Cheryl Stanley.
A tenured faculty member and former chair in the Department of Music, Bonacci has agreed to take over for Marotta and serve as Interim Dean of Undergraduate Studies through the end of the 2013-2014 academic year. He previously served as Interim Dean of Faculty from January 2011 to August of 2012.
Stanley, the University’s Dean of Education, will assume the seat being vacated by Tobin as Acting Dean of Graduate and Continuing Education.
She will continue to serve as Dean of Education while the university makes arrangements to fill the position on an interim basis.
Following it’s December meeting, the Westfield State Board of Trustees announced that the process for filling the university’s presidency on a permanent basis will begin during the upcoming spring semester through a series of campus focus groups intended to “set priorities in the selection of a new president and establish the process for conducting the search.”
“Dr. Preston has put out focus groups to figure out what skill set we should search for for the next president.” said board Chairman John Flynn III following that December meeting. “We’ll start by identifying a core group of folks internally.”
