Gaudelius named interim vice president and dean for Undergraduate Education
Yvonne Gaudelius, associate vice president and senior associate dean for Undergraduate Education, has been named interim vice president and dean for Undergraduate Education, effective Jan. 1, 2021.
Gaudelius succeeds Rob Pangborn, who will retire from Penn State on Dec. 31 after more than 41 years of service. A national search is underway to identify Pangborn’s permanent successor.
“Yvonne is an experienced administrator with a long history of service to the Office of Undergraduate Education and the University,” said Penn State Executive Vice President and Provost Nick Jones. “I have the utmost confidence that she will provide exemplary leadership for the Office of Undergraduate Education as we move forward through this transition.”
As interim vice president and dean, Gaudelius will lead University-wide programming and initiatives in support of undergraduate teaching and learning at Penn State, including orientation and transition programs; undergraduate research experiences; internships, fellowships and engaged scholarship; cross-campus curricular coherence and integration; general education and learning support services; prior learning assessment; summer sessions; and student advising and success.
In addition to administrative units addressing these areas, the Office of Undergraduate Education encompasses the Division of Undergraduate Studies, the Schreyer Institute for Teaching Excellence, the Morgan Academic Center for student-athletes, the Sokolov-Miller Family Financial and Life Skills Center, and Penn State’s ROTC programs. Gaudelius also will be responsible for coordinating enrollment management and planning across Penn State’s 20 baccalaureate degree-granting campuses, and providing oversight for Undergraduate Admissions, the Office of the University Registrar, and the Office of Student Aid.
“I am honored and excited to serve as the interim vice president and dean for Undergraduate Education over the coming months,” said Gaudelius. “All of the units of Undergraduate Education provide leadership as we collaborate with colleagues across the University to support our critical efforts toward student success and access and affordability. I look forward to continuing to realize this mission.”
As associate vice president, Gaudelius provides leadership for the Administrative Council on Undergraduate Education, the Digital Learning Academic Council, One Penn State 2025, and a range of initiatives related to student success and access and affordability. She also provides direct oversight for Student Orientation and Transition Programs, the Office for Summer Session, the Sokolov-Miller Family Financial and Life Skills Center, academic integrity, residential online learning, ROTC, and the Provost’s Emeritus Teaching Fund. Since March, she has served as co-chair of a COVID-19 task group focused on continuity of instruction and enrollment.
Gaudelius, who also holds the rank of professor of art education and women’s, gender and sexuality studies, joined the Penn State faculty in 1993. She has held her current role in the Office of Undergraduate Education since 2007. She previously served as interim dean of the College of Arts and Architecture from 2006 to 2007, and from 2003 to 2006 she served as the college’s associate dean for undergraduate studies and outreach.
She holds a doctorate in art education from Penn State; a bachelor of fine arts in art education and fine arts from the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada; and a bachelor of arts in art history from Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario, Canada.