The Daily Toreador - Student Newspaper of Texas Tech

Issue date: 1/31/08 Section: News

Media Credit: Courtesy photo Reuss

Media Credit: Courtesy photo Nunez

Of three new leadership positions appointed by Texas Tech Health Sciences Center President John Baldwin earlier this month, one will focus on maintaining the center's academic accreditation.

Rial Rolfe, who has served as the founding dean for the Office of Faculty Affairs and Development in the School of Medicine, was promoted to vice president of academic services, according to a university news release.

"(Rolfe's) many contributions to the Health Sciences Center over numerous years demonstrates his in-depth knowledge of this institution," Baldwin said in a press release. "He has a tremendous commitment to the students, faculty and academic programs of the Health Sciences Center."

As vice president of academic services, Rolfe said he will be responsible for maintaining the Health Sciences Center's accreditation status with agencies including the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, the organization that put Texas Tech on accreditation probation in December.

Though Rolfe said the university's accreditation probation calls attention to the Health Sciences Center SACS accreditation, which is up for reaffirmation in 2009, he believes the Health Sciences Center is on track to submit a compliance report due to the accrediting agency in September.

"I don't think there's any more pressure," he said. "We put tremendous pressure on ourselves whenever there's an accreditation involved."

While focusing on SACS accreditation, Rolfe said another area he intends to focus on is expansion of the HSC by increasing student enrollment to 4,000 by 2020.

An increase to 4,000 students would require a more than 50-percent increase from the HSC's fall 2007 enrollment of 2,616, according to the HSC Web site, www.ttuhsc.edu/hsc/factbook.

To accommodate such an increase in student enrollment, Rolfe said part of his job as vice president will be to ensure the Student Affairs office and other student facilities, including the HSC library, can accommodate the growth.

In the Office of Diversity and Multicultural Affairs, German Nunez was promoted to oversee the new Center for International and Multicultural Affairs.

"I feel this new center reflects our increasing involvement in international matters," Baldwin said in the release.

According to the Web site, a purpose of the office is to increase the participation of minority students in health sciences education. Before he arrived at TTUHSC, Nunez had appointments in Industrial and Systems Engineering, Neurosurgery, Aerospace Engineering Science, Engineering Management and Biomedical Engineering. He also oversees the Center for Diversity and Multicultural Affairs and is responsible for developing and implementing programs to increase the enrollment and retention of under-represented minority students.

Luis Reuss, a professor and chairman of the Department of Physiology at the HSC, was promoted to dean of the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences.

Although Reuss was promoted to dean of the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, he will continue to maintain his position as chairman in the physiology department.

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