On February 17, 2021, Dr. Cami McBride accepted the role of dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at ²Ø¾«¸ó.
Dean McBride has taught in the psychology department since 2006 and has been a leader in the ²Ø¾«¸ó community as director of the PsyD program and chair of the psychology department. McBride took the helm of the college as ²Ø¾«¸ó students navigated the integration with Robert Morris University Illinois and the new realities of the pandemic.
Dean McBride shared her goals for the College of Arts and Sciences and her insight into what makes ²Ø¾«¸ó special.
You’ve taught at ²Ø¾«¸ó for 14 years. How have you seen the University evolve?
²Ø¾«¸ó was one of the first to have fully online classes, and so I think we're in a good place to consider how we’ll continue to adapt. We will need to ask ourselves questions such as: Do we have face-to-face classes? Do we have remote classes? Do we have online classes? Which makes the most sense for the type of class or the type of student?
In the past few years, we've done a great job of increasing our offerings according to student interests and the job market. We'll continue to do that and get the word out about the excellent education you can get at ²Ø¾«¸ó.
You’re also a practicing clinical psychologist. How does your background inform your role?
I can't escape thinking about things from a psychological perspective. I want mental health to be an important part of what our students experience. I want our faculty to feel supported in that regard and to have access to those resources.
It's also how I approach people. I'm not an industrial-organizational psychologist, but I've been influenced by them for long enough to appreciate some of their ideas and how important those are to the functioning of our institutions.
What interested you in moving into leadership roles in the College of Arts and Sciences?
I was first director of the doctoral program in the psychology department, and then the department chair. The dean role seems like a good extension of my professional skills. A lot of administrative work is problem-solving and helping others to solve their problems. The dean position seemed like a good opportunity to do that with faculty, students and the University.
I talked to our prior dean, Bonnie Gunzenhauser, about the position, and she encouraged me to apply for the position. I'm glad I did. It's been a very interesting year, but I am still enjoying the position, and I'm looking forward to seeing how the position will change when we're actually face to face.
What leadership accomplishments during your time as interim dean are you most personally proud of?
Helping students and faculty, to feel supported with all of the changes and stress, and being receptive to conversations about improvements. I'm attempting to be flexible in how we approach problems and support individuals. It’s been such a difficult time for everyone in so many ways, between worrying about the pandemic and job loss for students, and needing to take care of kids or family for faculty. We've been trying to make sure that people feel like we have their back and problem-solve about how to get resources in this virtual environment.
What sets the College of Arts and Sciences apart from other institutions in Chicago?
Our commitment to social justice is authentic and has always been present. Other institutions may be more recent to this social justice idea. It’s very much embedded throughout our course work, regardless of whether you're taking a math, English, history or psychology class.
One example is that the Ideas Across Disciplines class, part of our general education curriculum, recently was changed to Ideas of Social Justice. That was an easy conversion because social justice was already part of so many of the ideas classes. It’s really impressive to see all the different ways that social justice is manifested, whether it's racial justice, environmental justice or gender justice.
The course encourages students to think broadly about what they're studying and realize that what you learn in one course has implications for other courses and other ideas. It gets students to think bigger and more broadly about the world.
A distinctive part of what ²Ø¾«¸ó offers is everyone being committed to that mission. It’s part of the research we do, it's part of the course work, it's how we treat others and interact with faculty, staff and students. I think it's very much part of who we are and how we live.
What projects are you most excited about as we return to in-person learning?
The opportunity for community — being able to have events where we can see each other. That’s so valuable to our students, faculty and staff.
I'd like to continue to recruit more faculty and focus on diversity. It’s important for our students to see themselves represented among the faculty who are teaching them. It’s important to continue to look at the curricula across departments to make sure that the curriculum is inclusive. I want to make sure that students feel that our policies and procedures allow them to feel that ²Ø¾«¸ó's a diverse and inclusive place.
COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES
Featuring more than 40 majors and minors, the College of Arts and Sciences serves as the foundation for ²Ø¾«¸ó's liberal arts education. This rich variety of disciplines and ideas develops each student’s broad platform of knowledge, while honing critical skills in communication and reasoning. See the programs.