Provost Steven D. House has promoted Mary Wise to associate vice president for academic affairs and Peter Felten to assistant provost. Both promotions are effective June 1.
Since arriving at Elon as assistant dean of academic affairs in 1997, Wise has helped guide Elon’s academic programs through a period of unprecedented growth and increasing prestige. Promoted to assistant vice president for academic affairs in 2001, Wise coordinates the university’s reaccreditation reports for the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, administers department and program evaluations, and oversees the administration of Elon’s honor code. She supervises the library and institutional research, chairs the First-Year Experiences Committee and creates Elon’s annual Provost’s Report, highlighting faculty achievement.
Wise came to Elon after serving in many capacities at Ball State University from 1990 to 1997, including associate dean of the College of Communication, Information and Media and assistant director of the Center for Information and Communication Sciences. Before joining Ball State, she served as associate dean of the graduate school and director of continuing education at Bradley University and was a member of the faculty at Central Michigan University and Glassboro State College (now Rowan University).
Wise holds a master’s degree and a doctorate in interpersonal communication from Purdue University and a bachelor’s degree in communication with honors from Michigan State University.
Felten joined Elon’s faculty as director of the Center for Teaching and Learning and associate professor of history in 2005, and he will continue in those roles after he becomes assistant provost. He previously served as associate director of the Center for Teaching and senior lecturer of history at Vanderbilt University from 1999 to 2005.
Widely published in the notable journals of his field, Felten has co-authored one book and edited another that will be published in 2010 and 2011, respectively. He has secured 15 regional and national grants for his research and is a fixture at major teaching and learning conferences and a frequently invited guest on campuses nationwide.
In addition to directing CATL, Felten has served Elon on the Phi Beta Kappa and Academic Service Learning Faculty Advisory committees, chaired the School of Education dean search committee in the 2008-09 academic year and was a member of the associate provost search committee in 2009, in addition to other activities. He is a member of the Professional and Organizational Development Network in Higher Education and will serve as its president in 2010-11, an invited participant at the Inter-Generational Mentoring Community at the Fetzer Institute and sits on the editorial board for the International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning.
Felten graduated summa cum laude from Marquette University with a bachelor’s degree in history. He earned his doctorate in history from the University of Texas.