Appointment of Barbara A. Lee as Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs

February 10, 2015

Members of the Rutgers Community:

I am pleased to announce the appointment of Professor Barbara A. Lee, former dean of the School of Management and Labor Relations (SMLR) and current chair of SMLR’s Department of Human Resource Management, to the position of Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs (SVPAA) for Rutgers University. She will begin her tenure on July 1, 2015.

As SVPAA, Dr. Lee will serve as the chief academic officer of Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, and will report directly to me. Working within the new structure created by the higher education restructuring legislation, she will coordinate academic programs throughout Rutgers in conjunction with the provosts at Camden, Newark, New Brunswick, and Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences, particularly in regard to new degree programs. She will chair the Promotion Review Committee and manage the tenure and promotion process across all academic units. Among other responsibilities, Dr. Lee will also coordinate professional programs and other activities that extend across multiple elements of Rutgers, and staff the Board of Governors’ Committee on Academic and Student Affairs.

Direct reports to Senior Vice President Lee will include our vice presidents for enrollment management, academic affairs and administration, global and international affairs, institutional diversity and inclusion, and continuing studies and distance education, as well as the vice president for information services and university librarian. She will also oversee Rutgers University Press and the Office of Student Veterans Services.

Dr. Lee, who holds a Ph.D. in higher education administration from Ohio State University and a law degree from Georgetown University, has been a member of the Rutgers faculty since 1982 and teaches employment law and higher education law at SMLR. She has authored or co-authored several books in her field, including The Law of Higher Education, now in its 5th edition, A Legal Guide for Student Affairs Professionals, and Academics in Court: The Consequences of Faculty Discrimination Litigation.

Dr. Lee has chaired the New Jersey Bar Association’s Higher Education Committee and is a former member of the board of directors of the National Association of College and University Attorneys. She is an elected member of the American Law Institute and chair of the editorial board of The Journal of College & University Law. The Alice Paul Institute awarded her its Alice Paul Equality Award in 2011 in recognition of her work on behalf of women in the workforce. Rutgers honored her in 2009 with the Daniel Gorenstein Award, honoring her excellence in scholarship and service to the University over a sustained period of time.

I want to thank all those who offered themselves as candidates for this position, and particularly the search committee that was chaired by Senior Vice President Christopher Molloy. Dr. Lee was selected from an outstanding pool of candidates from across the University. I am looking forward to working with Dr. Lee as my senior academic partner. She will join our exceptionally strong team of chancellors in working to define the future of Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey.

Please join me in congratulating Barbara Lee as she prepares to step into this vital leadership position.

Sincerely,
Bob Barchi