Dr. Susan Hoffpauir, associate vice chancellor for academic affairs and academic policy at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, has been named the new associate dean for academic affairs at the Clinton School.
After a national search involving Clinton School faculty, staff and students, Hoffpauir emerged as the top candidate among a strong group of applicants and was recommended by the search committee, said Clinton School Dean Skip Rutherford. She will assume her duties on July 11.
“I’m very pleased to have someone of Susan’s experience and credentials to lead our academic program,” Rutherford said. “She’s an experienced administrator and her background in social work fits perfectly with our focus on service learning here at the Clinton School.”
In her new position, Hoffpauir will be responsible for overseeing and managing the Master of Public Service degree program (MPS), which is the first of its kind in the country. The MPS gives students the knowledge and skills to excel in government, nonprofit, volunteer and private sector service.
“I’m truly honored and excited to join the students, faculty and staff at the Clinton School in their pursuit of public service,” Hoffpauir said. “I share Dean Rutherford’s vision of making the Clinton School into a national academic center for service learning. The school is off to a great start and I look forward to playing a part in its future success.”
Hoffpauir comes to the Clinton School with 20 years of experience in higher education leadership and administration. She holds a doctorate in social work and social science from the University of Michigan and is the former director of the bachelor of social work degree program at UALR. She also attended the Harvard Institute of Management and Leadership Education.
One of Hoffpauir’s first tasks will be to help coordinate a strategic planning process that began under the leadership of Dean Rutherford and Dr. Todd Shields, interim associate dean for academic affairs.
“Susan will be a great partner in our strategic planning efforts and help provide leadership to our students and faculty,” Rutherford said. “I also want to thank and commend Todd Shields for his leadership over the past year as our interim associate dean.”
At UALR, Hoffpauir led the institution’s regional accreditation review by the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association, which resulted in the reaccreditation of the institution for the maximum 10-year period. Also at UALR, she designed and established the Bachelor of Social Work program, which earned full accreditation in 2005.
She has served as both president and vice president of the board of directors of the Arkansas Chapter of the National Association of Social Workers and was co-principal investigator on a $175,000 grant from the Arkansas Department of Health to create a mental health crisis response training curriculum and protocol that were used to train over 250 mental health professionals who delivered care to over 750 Hurricane Katrina survivors displaced in Arkansas in 2005.
The Clinton School currently enrolls more than 70 students in the two-year MPS program. The school will enroll its largest and most diverse class ever this fall. Clinton School students complete three field service projects across the state, country and world, making up 30 per cent of the academic credit in the MPS program.
Since opening its doors in 2005, the Clinton School boasts an 85 percent graduation rate and an 85 percent career placement rate. Students come to the school from across the state, country and world to study and practice public service.