Dear Colleagues,
It is with great pleasure that I announce the appointment of Mr. Robert A. Giordani as University Registrar and Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs. In his role as Registrar, he will report to Mr. McNew who will assume the title of Senior Associate Vice President for Enrollment Services. Mr. Giordani will also advise me directly on matters particularly relating to the interface between academic affairs and student growth and success, as well as academic standards.
As many of you know, we have been engaged in a national search for Registrar, and I am grateful to the hard-working committee for its efforts over the last few months. While many of the applicants had considerable strengths and would have much to contribute to Towson, I did not see the fit I was hoping for. In my conversations with various colleagues in the Division, I started using an image for the person I wanted, as a ?kind of Bob Giordani type.? When someone kindly pointed out the obvious, I began to make some inquiries, which I think surprised Bob himself.
Bob is well known throughout the university, and I do not need to introduce his many qualifications to you. He is a hard-working person who always has student success in the forefront of his agenda. At the same time, he has worked diligently in Judicial Affairs as well as other capacities to help formulate student learning within a sound developmental process. He has interacted considerably with faculty on various committees, giving him a broad institutional perspective on the academic process. He is completing a Ph.D. Program in Public Policy at UMBC, which adds yet another dimension to his vision for the future of higher education and how that future translates to student growth in the life of the mind.
The role of Registrar is rapidly changing, becoming more technically-centered, on the one hand, while also providing an unambiguous voice for quality and standards of academic excellence, on the other. In our deliberate effort to attenuate a mentality of silos or turf at Towson, I envision that the Registrar will exercise influence across many sectors of the university as we all work together to support students in their learning and keep faculty teaching informed by scholarly achievement. As we move to articulate this vision within our innovate model of a genuine metropolitan university, we need a Registrar who easily moves across academic and institutional cultures.
Bob Giordani will surely be missed among his colleagues in Student Affairs, and I want to take this opportunity to express my appreciation to Vice President Moriarty for her support throughout this process and for her helping us think a bit ?outside the box.? The good news for all is that Bob Giordani remains within the Towson family where his strengths will have new opportunities for expression, and our students are the beneficiaries.
Thank you.
James F. Brennan
Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs
