Saint Ambrose University recently issued the following announcement.
St. Ambrose University inaugurated Amy C. Novak, EdD, as its 14th president today during a ceremony in the Galvin Fine Arts Center.
In her inaugural address, Novak conveyed her vision for the university and a commitment to ensure it is wholly inclusive, innovative and adaptive to the needs of students and the greater community. In choosing her inauguration theme, "Come to the Table: Equipping Inclusive, Innovative, and Invitational Leaders for Our Future," Novak invited collective action and creativity to ensure a St. Ambrose University education is attainable, affordable and accessible to all students.
"The table is a place that establishes a proof that we live, move, and invest our whole selves in something that is continually co-created with those who sit alongside us. Something greater than ourselves," she said.
"One of the ways that I plan to work with the St. Ambrose community and our extended community is make room at our many tables for those who do not feel they can come because of cost, fear, or simply the unknown of the college process. In a time when access and affordability often represent insurmountable barriers to low-income students, first-generation students, and students of color, it is important that the St. Ambrose table be innovative in its approach to inviting and welcoming students of all backgrounds as we strive to pilot new business models of affordability and create new pathways to ensure all students, regardless of background and respectful of personal dreams, can access higher education," Novak said.
"Similarly, we need to welcome business partners, religious leaders, non-profit strategists to inform the creation of a 21st century curriculum that develops leaders across their lifespan," she added.
St. Ambrose is a private, Catholic, comprehensive university grounded in the liberal arts and affiliated with the Diocese of Davenport. Founded in 1882, it has a current enrollment of about 3,000 and offers more than 60 undergraduate degrees and 16 post-graduate degrees.
St. Ambrose faculty and staff, as well as representatives from colleges and academic societies across the country participated in the ceremony's formal academic processional, demonstrating support of Novak's vision.
"In a time when cognitive science informs us that our new generation of learners have awakened our need to meet their intellectual curiosity with fresh approaches to teaching, it is important that St. Ambrose demonstrate the courage to explore, experiment and implement more effective and relevant methods of teaching so as to bring out the very best in our students," Novak said.
"In a time when the pandemic, income inequality, global political instability, or racism flood our news feeds, our education must inspire innovative, creative problem-solving inclusive of the voices most impacted by these global challenges. An Ambrose education must recognize failure as critical learning tool. It must model approaches that transcend disciplinary silos and invite perspective from across the academic spectrum," she said.
Original source can be found here.
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