By Alyssa Allemand
Margaret Noreuil, Edgewood College interim vice president for academic affairs (VPAA) and academic dean, said she hopes to “build bridges” between professional programs and the liberal arts as the college restructures into two academic schools.
Noreuil, who was previously dean of the School of Nursing at Edgewood College, took over for Dean Pribbenow, who resigned from the VPAA role on Jan. 2 and is now at Elmhurst College.
Interim President Sister Mary Ellen Gevelinger asked Noreuil if she would be willing to step in as VPAA. “We knew that Dean was looking for other positions,” Noreuil said. “So she [Gevelinger] just asked me, if he were to find a different position and leave at some point in the next few years, is it something I would be interested in?”
Gevelinger was unavailable for comment.
Noreuil said the end date of her interim role depends on the new president, which the college intends to hire by July 1, 2020.
When Noreuil was announced as the new VPAA, there was some fear among faculty about her coming from the nursing program considering many vulnerable departments are in the liberal arts and humanities.
Noreuil said that the tension between professional schools and liberal arts is consistent nationally. “From my perspective, I always feel like the liberal arts are just really critically important for lots of reasons,” Noreuil said. “One is because I think it’s what makes nursing students distinct, is their ability to see the big picture and look at the world differently than they would if they only had a professional program that they went through . . . I would prefer that there’s not that tension.”
Associate Professor of Philosophy John Fields, who will take over as dean of the School of Arts and Sciences March 31, said that faculty morale is low. “Our underlying financials are good, but it requires us – if we’re not going to have a deficit – to do some things we don’t necessarily want to do, which is have a smaller teaching staff,” he said.
Restructuring plans
Many restructuring decisions must be made by March 1 because that is when work on the new catalog begins, according to Noreuil. All restructuring changes must be in place by July 1.
“There’s a lot of work to do in the next six months with the restructuring, the Gen Ed revision,” she said. “All of that still has to continue, so I’m trying to get up to speed on what the role is and at the same time push forward with these initiatives.”
Noreuil told faculty and staff in an email that during the college assembly on Feb. 10, faculty will have the chance to group themselves into the two schools and discuss plans for restructuring. She said this aspect of the meeting is to “give voice as much as possible and get better insight.”
Noreuil also said she has been in touch with Vice President for Student Development Heather Harbach about being transparent to students throughout the restructuring process. “We‘re really wanting students to know about what’s going on,” she said.
Background in nursing, teaching
Noreuil began her career at Edgewood College 27 years ago as an adjunct after being a nurse for several years. She served as dean of nursing for 15 years leading up to her role as VPAA.
“I loved working with students,” she said. “I really enjoyed working with the colleagues here at Edgewood. I really strongly believe in the mission and the vision of the institution and particularly the Dominican values.”
Her undergraduate and master’s degrees are from the University of Illinois. She was teaching at Edgewood when she decided to pursue her Ph.D. at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
The VPAA before Dean Pribbenow, Mary Kelley-Powell, was also the dean of the School of Nursing prior to that promotion. Noreuil was promoted to dean of the School of Nursing when Kelley-Powell became VPAA.
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