Provost appoints four to interim academic leadership positions

Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost Britt Rios-Ellis, Ph.D., has announced the appointment of four accomplished educators and scholars to interim administrative positions in the Office of the Provost. The announcements come following the departures of former Senior Associate Provost Michelle Piskulich, Ph.D., and former Associate Provost for Student Success and Quality Assurance Anne Hitt, Ph.D., as well as the sabbatical of Associate Provost Cynthia Miree, Ph.D.

Since 2010, Oakland University has expanded with two additional schools (the OUWB School of Medicine and the School of Music, Theatre, and Dance), 23 bachelors degrees, nine masters degrees, four doctoral degrees, and 22 certificate and specialist programs. Full-time faculty numbers have grown 23 percent in the same time, from 536 to 658.

New programs have considerable accreditation responsibilities and regulatory compliance issues. The reconfiguration of the Office of Academic Affairs structure will facilitate processes and efforts to support student and faculty success, sustain and integrate community engagement, expand research efforts, and strengthen DEI efforts.

“I sincerely appreciate the interest and dedication of numerous, highly qualified university faculty members considered for these appointments," Rios-Ellis said.

"Engaging in this restructuring and interviewing process made me very cognizant of the high levels of faculty leadership we have at OU. Although the decision-making process was challenging, the breadth, depth, and expertise of the candidates ensured that outstanding individuals could step forward to assist in academic affairs leadership."

Appointments include the following individuals:

• College of Arts and Sciences Associate Dean Amy Banes-Berceli, Ph.D. will serve as Interim Associate Provost for Operations. An Associate Professor of Biological Sciences who joined OU in 2009, she has conducted research on the role of the JAK2/STAT pathways in diabetes, renal cell carcinoma and cardiovascular disease. She has received external grant funding from the American Heart Association, National Institutes of Health and the Zafarna philanthropy fund. Banes-Berceli has mentored more than 80 undergraduate and graduate students; and served on grant review study sections; editorial boards; and numerous departmental, college and university level committees. She has also served as Biomedical Sciences Program Director, Interim Program Director for the Bachelors of Arts in Liberal Studies program, and Interim Program Director of the Masters of Arts in Liberal Studies. In addition to these activities, Banes-Berceli has actively demonstrated a passion for modifying university facilities to improve accessibility for all campus community members, as well as protecting our natural resources on campus.
  
  
• School of Health Sciences Associate Dean Kristin Landis-Piwowar, Ph.D., will serve as Interim Associate Provost for Quality Assurance and Accreditation. During her 11 years at Oakland, she has led and translated multifaceted initiatives from planning to practice; built collaborative and interprofessional academic programming across academic units; and contributed to program assessment and accreditations for numerous programs. Landis-Piwowar has published more than 30 peer-reviewed journal articles on cancer therapeutics, prevention and molecular mechanisms of disease, as well as authored numerous book chapters. She serves as the continuing education focus series editor for the Clinical Laboratory Science journal, and is the editor in chief of the fourth edition of McKenzie’s, Clinical Laboratory Hematology. Honors and recognitions Landis-Piwowar has received include the American Society of Clinical Laboratory Science (ASCLS) Scientific Professional Achievement Award in 2021, ASCLS-MI Member of the Year in 2020 and a Crain’s Notable Women in STEM recognition in 2019. She is respected as a passionate and innovative leader, as well as a creative problem-solver who values sharing ideas in an environment built on mutual respect and trust.
  
  
• School of Business Administration Associate Dean Nivedita Mukherji, Ph.D., will serve as Interim Associate Provost for Faculty Affairs. A Professor of Economics who specializes in regional and macroeconomics, her areas of research interest include monetary policy under uncertainty; government policies in the presence of information barriers in credit markets; the economics of informal markets; and the economics of technological change. Her research has appeared in some of the leading journals in economics. She is one of the first researchers to explain the differential impact of the pandemic across the U.S. based on county-level differences in socioeconomic conditions. She is the recipient of the best paper award for her work on the spatial differences in knowledge flow as measured by patent citations. Nivedita has taught macroeconomics courses throughout the undergraduate and MBA curriculum and is the recipient of the school’s teaching excellence award. Mukherji has served on numerous school and university committees, led the SBA through two AASCB accreditation reviews, and stood at the forefront of using data and technology for efficient management. She earned the school’s Distinguished Service Award for her service contribution as a faculty member. She also earned the Trailblazer Award from t.Lab, a Detroit area after school program for underrepresented students.
  
  
• Associate Dean and Director of the School of Music, Theatre and Dance Amy Hardison Tully, D.M.A., will serve as Interim Associate Provost for Student Success. Having joined OU in 2019, Dr. Tully is a Professor of Music whose 22-year performing, teaching and administrative career has been multidisciplinary and collaborative. She has focused intensely on creative and inclusive research and pedagogy among students and faculty. As an orchestral and solo flutist, Dr. Tully has been invited to perform and teach throughout the nation and has commissioned almost a dozen new chamber works for flute. Her research focuses on American music and, as project scholar and co-writer, she was awarded a NEH grant in collaboration with the Tribeca Film Institute to fund “America’s Music: A Film History of Our Popular Music from Blues to Bluegrass to Broadway.” This is series of six documentary film screenings and scholar-led discussions of 20th-century American popular music. Her most recent article (forthcoming in 2022) focuses on American composer Henry Cowell and the alma mater he composed for Oakland University in 1962. Dr. Tully believes that a holistic approach best serves students for academic, career, and life success – a college experience that combines academic excellence and support, along with financial and emotional wellbeing, to prepare students to be successful, inventive and entrepreneurial beyond the fundamentals of the classroom. She is an advocate for a liberal arts education with a strong foundation in research and professional college-to-career experiences.

Rios Ellis said the appointments will enable Academic Affairs to better serve the university's dedicated and conscientious faculty, and ultimately the students they teach, mentor and inspire.

"I look forward to continuing to support faculty as they strive to meet our strategic priorities,” she said. “I am thrilled with the collaborative nature of our Academic Affairs team as well as the outstanding dedication and expertise each of the Associate Provosts brings to their respective portfolios.”