Dean Jay Halfond
From Dr. Jean Morrison, University Provost and Chief Academic Officer
Dean Jay Halfond informed President Brown and me earlier this semester that he has chosen to step down from his position as Dean of Metropolitan College (MET), effective December 31, 2012, and transition back to the faculty. His decision comes after long and careful consideration of how to best serve both Metropolitan College and Boston University in the coming years. Dean Halfond will take a year-long sabbatical starting in the summer 2013 and will return in the following summer to serve on the faculty and continue his contributions to teaching and scholarship. Dean Halfond will be teaching a graduate seminar for the School of Education during the spring 2013 semester.
I am pleased to announce that Tanya Zlateva, Associate Dean for Academic Programs and Associate Professor of Computer Science in Metropolitan College, will assume the role of Interim Dean of Metropolitan College, effective January 1, 2013. Associate Dean Zlateva and Dean Halfond will work closely together throughout the spring to ensure a smooth transition.
Dean Halfond joined Boston University in 1997 as Associate Dean and Associate Professor of Administrative Sciences and has led Metropolitan College as Dean since 2001. Over his nearly dozen years of service, Dean Halfond has overseen significant growth and change both within MET and Boston University – particularly in the advent of distance learning – and he was instrumental in launching BU’s first, fully online, distance learning degree program in 2002. Since that time, with the support of the faculty and administration of MET, he has helped to further solidify MET’s excellence as a leader in developing new and innovative educational opportunities in on-campus, online, and on-site formats that meet the dynamic and changing needs of adult learners. Nine new degree programs, 29 new academic and professional certificates, and 11 new concentrations were initiated during his deanship, as well as the transition of 12 masters degrees and one undergraduate program to a fully online format. Under his leadership, MET has become a national model for part-time graduate and professional adult education and is home to a premier, nationally recognized Office of Distance Education that supports three thousand online students annually and whose programs boasts over six thousand alumni from every state and over thirty countries.
In addition to his leadership of MET College, Dean Halfond has been a crucial contributor to the University’s international strategy, having co-chaired the President’s Council for Boston University and the Global Future from 2006-2007 and chaired the President’s Council for a Global University beginning in 2008. Throughout his service, Dean Halfond has represented a strong voice in support of academic innovation, demonstrated a generosity of spirit in partnering with Schools and Colleges across the University, and helped to create an environment within BU that fosters technological and pedagogical experimentation in the continual pursuit of excellence.
On the national stage, Halfond has maintained active engagement around contemporary issues in higher education: he served on the American Council on Education’s Commission for Lifelong Learning from 2005 to 2008; as a contributing editor of theJournal of Continuing Higher Education from 2005 to 2010; and publishes a periodic commentary for the online New England Journal of Higher Education. Prior to his arrival at BU, Dean Halfond served as Associate Dean of Northeastern University’s College of Business Administration and held various administrative positions at Harvard University. He received his bachelor’s degree in History from Temple University in 1973, a master’s degree in Comparative History from Brandeis University in 1974, and his Ph.D. in Higher Education Administration from Boston College in 1981.
Dean Halfond’s contributions have been essential to elevating the quality and relevance of the programs in MET and to extending its reach to new students in new and innovative ways. I know that all of you join President Brown and me in thanking Dean Halfond for his dedicated service to MET College and to Boston University.
Interim Dean Zlateva will play an essential role in leading and sustaining the momentum of MET as we consider the best way forward for Metropolitan College. Please join me in welcoming her to this new role.