Owens Selected to Become Director of Faculty Center
JONESBORO – Arkansas State University’s Faculty Center, where professors and instructors continue to develop teaching and research techniques, will soon have a new director.
Following a search process, Provost Alan Utter announced today Ruth Supko Owens will be the new director of the center, the latest chapter in her 24-year A-State career, effective June 1.
“I am delighted to have Dr. Ruth Owens onboard to strategically lead A-State’s Faculty Center,” Utter stated. “Ruth brings with her a long list of scholarship, as well as creative ideas, that will promote best practices in teaching and learning for our campus.”
The Faculty Center’s mission is to provide faculty with the professional development, training and resources they need to excel as educators, researchers and professionals at all stages of their teaching career.
“All of us who teach at the university level immerse ourselves every day in the rapidly changing landscape of the college classroom,” Owens said. “We are all looking for innovative and impactful teaching practices and the best ways to meet the needs of our students. As the director of A-State’s Faculty Center, I hope to get all academic departments and units across campus fully involved in cultivating and enhancing a culture of teaching excellence through faculty development activities and collaborations among faculty.”
Currently associate professor of Spanish and coordinator of the bachelor’s degree program in world languages education, Owens joined the A-State faculty in 1997. She earned her master’s in foreign languages and doctorate in curriculum and instruction, both at West Virginia University.
Highly student-oriented during her A-State career, Owens has emphasized educational enrichment experiences beyond the traditional classroom. Among her achievements, she initiated a summer study abroad program in Costa Rica in 2004 and led it for nine years.
Owens has served nearly 10 years as faculty fellow for teaching and learning through the Faculty Center. She led several workshops and played a lead role in coordinating the center’s summer institute the last three years. Owens also was selected Honors Professor of the Year in 2013, and she won the Outstanding Faculty Adviser Award in 2011.
Utter also expressed appreciation to Owens’ predecessor.
“I am deeply grateful to Dr. Gina Hogue who served in this capacity for the last few years while managing her many other campus roles,” he said. Hogue continues as associate dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Communication, interim chair of the Department of Criminology, Sociology and Geography, and associate professor of history.
More details about the Faculty Center at A-State, including its various services, are available on its website.
