Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, January 7, 1993 TAG: 9301070175
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: MADELYN ROSENBERG STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RADFORD LENGTH: Medium
GLOBAL COLLEGE HEAD NAMED AT RU
Radford University's new provost for the soon-to-be-formed College of Global Studies will be the highest ranking woman in the school's history, administrators announced Wednesday.Meredith Strohm, currently director of international services for Hunton & Williams in Richmond, one of the country's largest law firms, will begin her new position on Feb. 1.
As provost, she will oversee the curriculum and building development for the autonomous college, part of Radford's plan to meet the needs of the 21st century.
"It seems to me that these times call for a new generation of global leaders, and a new generation of citizens not only of neighborhoods, towns, states and nations, but also of the world," Strohm said at a Richmond news conference.
Radford has been trying to shift its focus to global education in recent years, and even has included a small globe in its new logo.
The idea for the new college already has seen wide acclaim across the state and in the country. One magazine called it perhaps the "nation's most ambitious, international education project."
The college will try to meld academics and residential life by bringing the classroom and dorm room together in a village-like setting.
Lounges will double as seminar rooms. Learning won't stop when class ends.
More than 200 applicants applied for the provost's position, which pays $90,000 a year, according to Radford's public relations office.
Strohm was chosen because she has the right mix of training, personal skills and experiences, Donald Dedmon, Radford's president, said in a written statement. Dedmon is on sabbatical in Hawaii.
He said the position was one of the most important that has ever been created at Radford University.
When Strohm arrives, she will face the challenge not only of developing the program, but marketing it to students.
Because, though secondary schools have done more in recent years to expose students to a more global curriculum, a major in Global Studies is foreign to most high school graduates.
It is a challenge Strohm welcomes, perhaps one of the easier ones she will face.
"The first thing that will attract students to the college will be a well-defined program," she said in a telephone interview Wednesday afternoon.
And she promised good, solid preparation for the work force, a balance between liberal arts and practical skills, including language and computer courses.
"Most students and employers will see the value of that combination," she said.
Individual programs also will be suited to students' needs.
"Far too often, colleges and universities accept traditional undergraduate students and throw them into an environment where they have no sense of what the rules are and what's expected of them," Strohm said. "It's almost a survival test."
The new college will have a pace and a process so students can expect success all along the way, she said.
At James Madison University, professors are working with another new program fashioned to meet the needs of the next century: The College of Science and Technology.
But in recent months, half of the students in a pilot program have started looking for other majors.
That is the reason for test programs, Strohm said, and at James Madison, leaders have promised some fine-tuning.
The first class will enter Radford's new college in 1996 or 1997, Strohm said. But Radford will conduct similar pilot courses to measure students' interests and to avoid problems later on.
"I need to talk to lots of people," Strohm. "I need to talk with people at JMU and see what's happened there. We want to see this program be a success as quickly as possible."
Strohm, who currently lives in Richmond, directed marketing and administration for Hunton & Williams' international practice, including the opening and development of overseas offices in Brussels, Belgium, and Warsaw, Poland.
At Longwood College, she was assistant to the president and instructor of social work and director of student services.
At the University of Maryland, she was director of the graduate internship program and a research assistant.
She was director of residence hall programs and services at Virginia Commonwealth University.
Strohm earned her bachelor's degree from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, her master's from Indiana University and her doctorate from the University of Maryland.
She also holds a certificate in aging studies from Virginia Commonwealth University.