Jane Marie Souza is the University’s new assistant provost for academic administration. In the role, which she started May 1, Souza serves as the University’s chief assessment officer and manages academic policies in areas that require coordination among schools.
In addition, she will serve as a liaison with the New York State Education Department and the Middle States Commission on Higher Education.
The position was created in response to feedback from the Middle States Commission on Higher Education evaluation team, which recommended during last year’s reaccreditation review that the Provost’s Office include a learning-assessment expert as a resource for the University community.
Provost Peter Lennie welcomes Souza and says her expertise will be an important asset to the University.
“Jane Marie brings deep knowledge of learning assessment to the University, and her leadership will help the schools build on their previous successes in this area.” he says. “I am pleased to welcome her as a member of the team.”
Souza has served on accreditation teams for the Middle States Commission on Higher Education, the New England Association of Schools and Colleges, the Council on Podiatric Medicine, and the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy.
She has offered assessment workshops for higher education institutions and presented at national and international assessment conferences. She was also written for National Institute for Learning Outcomes Assessment publications and for the journal Assessment Update.
“I am pleased to be joining an institution with the motto Meliora and look forward to telling the story of how the University is continuously improving to maintain its status as an ‘institution of the highest order,’” Souza says. “I am excited to work with administrators and faculty to fully capture how the University of Rochester achieves this motto through its educational activities. My primary objective is to translate and document this information for multiple constituencies, including state boards, accrediting agencies, alumni, and most importantly our campus community.”
Prior to her role at Rochester, Souza was assistant dean of assessment and chair of the assessment leadership team at St. John Fisher College. She has also served as chief academic officer for the New England Institute of Art and executive director of CONNECT, a six-university consortium in southeastern Massachusetts.
Souza received her PhD from the University of Nebraska–Lincoln and a master’s in education from Curry College in Milton, Massachusetts. Her undergraduate degree is from the University of Massachusetts–Boston.