Brooke Barnett, Elon’s associate provost for academic and inclusive excellence and professor of communications, has been named dean of the College of Communication at Butler University in Indianapolis, Indiana. She will begin her duties there on June 1.
Barnett has been an Elon faculty member since 2001 and is a leader in Elon’s programs related to diversity, inclusion and global engagement. Her work to advance inclusion at Elon grew out of her service to the president as senior fellow, advisor and faculty administrative fellow. She has also provided leadership for several areas including Honors, Lumen, National and International fellowships, Periclean and Civic Engagement scholars, cultural and special programs, Life@Elon and residential campus academic programs.
“Brooke Barnett has been a driving force in making Elon a more welcoming and diverse community as she helped implement goals of the Elon Commitment strategic plan,” said Provost Steven House. “She has made considerable contributions to advance the university through her work as a tireless, caring and talented administrator as well as a distinguished teacher-scholar-mentor in communications. We thank her for her outstanding service to Elon and wish her the best in her new role at Butler University. Her selection as dean is a testament to her wide-ranging skills and strong passion for student success.”
“Dr. Barnett will bring with her to Butler a wealth of experience as a teacher, scholar and administrator,” Butler Provost Kate Morris said. “During her time as a faculty member at Elon University, she has been part of a strategic effort to grow a relatively small academic program into a signature school of communication. As an academic administrator, she developed and grew various academic programs, with a special emphasis on building a diverse and inclusive community.”
During her time at Elon, Barnett was promoted from assistant professor of communications (2001-2006), to associate professor (2006-2012), to professor in 2012. She was founding director of the Elon Program for Documentary Production (elondocs), served as faculty-in-residence for the Elon London Centre and served as chair of Elon’s Academic Council.
She has been a member of the president’s senior staff since 2010 and serves on the Provost Advisory Council, Academic Affairs Advisory Council, Deans Advisory Council and created and chaired the Inclusive Community Council. She also served on the International Fellows Committee, the Isabella Cannon International Centre Advisory Committee, the Long Range Planning Advisory Committee, the Kernodle Center for Service Learning and Community Engagement Advisory Committee, and many other committees and groups.
Barnett completed the Institute for Educational Management program at the Harvard Graduate School of Education in 2016 and this year was elected to the board of the Association of American Colleges and Universities, a leading national higher education group with 1,400 member institutions. Her many honors include the Elon Service Learning Scholar award and the School of Communications Distinguished Scholar award.
Barnett will continue in her current position at Elon through the spring semester before joining Butler. Over the next several months Provost House will work to ensure a strong leadership transition with Barnett’s departure.
The College of Communication at Butler was established in 2010 and offers nine undergraduate majors in four academic departments.