WINONA, Minn. — Saint Mary’s University has brought in a new academic vice president for the ongoing transition from its arts and science s roots to career-oriented programs. Julie Furst-Bowe begins in July. She is former chancellor at the University of Illinois-Edwardsville, from 2012 to 2015, whose mega-campus enrollment exceeds 13,000.  Most recently she has been the chief academic officer at Georgian Court University in New Jersey. Like Saint Mary’s, Georgian Court is a private Catholic college. It has 1,600 undergraduate students, compared to Saint Mary’s with 870 undergrads at the Winona campus, which has been downzsizing its faculty and programs in a major curricular reforms under President James Bjrns. Furst-Bowe also will head the much larger Saint Mary’s graduate program in Minneapolis. Her scholarly specialty is academic program development and accreditation. She has edited two books on improving quality in higher education. She holds a doctorate in education from the University of Minnesota. She also has expeiende at Winona State, Arkansas Tech, and the University of Wisconsin-Stout. As Saint Mary’s academic vice president, she succeeds mathematician Darren Row. In an in announcing the appointment of Furst-Bowe, Burns said there had been “an extensive search process with a strong pool of finalists.” As with past appointments, Burns did not elaborate on the process.

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FURST BOWE julie SMU acad vp - Winona Journal

Furst-Bowe. Recently at Georgian Coutr, a small Catholic college much like Saint Mary’s.

Verbatim

James Burns, SMU president: “In a time of significant change, Saint Mary’s is fortunate to find a strong leader with both a national and global understanding of the challenges facing higher education institutions today. Her leadership will undoubtedly elevate our academic reputation while remaining steadfastly committed to our Lasallian Catholic mission of preparing ethical, service-driven leaders.”