Farewell to Stacia Zabusky and Call for Associate Provost for Academic Programs

By Michelle Foster, November 21, 2024

Stacia Zabusky, the Associate Provost for Academic Programs, will be retiring from Ithaca College at the end of the 2024-2025 academic year. Stacia has been a member of the Ithaca College community since 1995, when Dr. Zabusky began her career as a faculty member in the Department of Anthropology, the same year her bookLaunching Europe: An Ethnography of Cooperation in European Space Sciencewas published by Princeton University Press. She joined the dean’s office in the School of Humanities and Sciences as associate dean in 2006, where she expertly supported H&S department chairs and faculty in all curricular matters across a broad set of disciplines, including implementation of the ICC. In addition, Stacia established the H&S Summer Scholars Program, which provides students across all H&S disciplines the opportunity to engage in faculty-mentored research projects, a program that continues to thrive today. Her significant contributions to H&S were recognized in 2021 with her promotion to senior associate dean for curriculum and undergraduate programs. In July of 2022 she assumed her current role as associate provost.

It is difficult to capture the breadth and depth of Stacia’s contributions during her thirty-year career. In Stacia’s time at the College, she has served on numerous all-college committees, including APC, the Provost’s Task Force on Revising the ICC, the All-College Academic Assessment Committee, and as Co-chair of the Ithaca Forever Action Group exploring a common schedule. From 2012-2019, she served as Chair of the Ithaca College All College Teacher Education Committee (ACTEC), during which time she developed robust and consistent administrative processes, created a culture of collaboration across schools, and led a network of campus and community stakeholders through a successful National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education self-study process and site visit. Starting in 2020, she co-chaired the Curriculum Revision Liaison Committee with Associate Provost Jeane Copenhaver-Johnson, supporting and guiding schools and departments across the college as they undertook a comprehensive curricular revision. After transitioning to the provost’s office, Stacia continued to lead the curricular revision process, successfully coordinating this complex college-wide effort, liaising between the academic departments, school curricular committees, the APC, and NYSED. She has worked tirelessly to clarify policies and improve procedures. She led the development of a credit hour policy for the campus and the implementation, in 2023, of the new first-year student summer preregistration process. In addition, over the past year and a half she has skillfully shepherded us through the Middle States Self-Study process. Her deep knowledge of the college curriculum, as well as her familiarity and experience with issues of assessment and accreditation, and her dedication to strengthening Ithaca College, will be missed, and there will be opportunities to celebrate and wish her well before she departs.

Given Stacia’s departure, the Office of the Provost is now seeking applicants for the position of Associate Provost for Academic Programs, to begin in the summer of 2025. The successful candidate will have primary responsibility for undergraduate academic program planning, assessment, and review, and will work in close collaboration with the associate provost for graduate and professional studies on similar matters impacting those programs. This individual serves as the compliance officer for academic programs, with respect to state and federal regulations, as well as the college’s liaison to our accrediting organization, Middle States. Additional responsibilities include providing supervisory oversight for relevant offices and college-wide academic programs and participating in committees or other groups as assigned by the provost. This individual must effectively collaborate with the other associate provosts, relevant college offices, and faculty staff/committees across campus to implement strategic plan initiatives, administer programs, and provide academic and faculty affairs recommendations to the provost as appropriate. Alongside the other associate provosts, this individual may be asked to assume responsibility for oversight of the Division of Academic Affairs in the absence of the provost.

Qualifications: An earned terminal degree and extensive academic and administrative experience at the college or university level; experience with policy and curriculum development; extensive knowledge of best practices, current issues, and future trends in education; proven ability to provide leadership in a culture that values collegial decision-making; ability to work successfully with diverse individuals and groups and the ability to represent the College effectively with internal and external constituencies; excellent organizational, interpersonal, written and verbal communication skills are required.

Application Process
Internal applications from current faculty are welcome, and faculty with questions about the position should feel free to contact Provost Melanie Stein at mstein2@ithaca.edu or Associate Provost Stacia Zabusky at szabusky@ithaca.edu. Interested applicants must apply online and attach a resume, cover letter, and list of three professional references. Questions about online applications should be directed to the Office of Human Resources at (607) 274-8000 or humanresources@ithaca.edu. To ensure full consideration, applications should be completed by close of business on Dec 13, 2024.