Marketing and Communications
Dr. Josie Wilson appointed as SOU Acting Dean for new College of Arts and Sciences
03/27/2007
Following consultation with and vote by the SOU Faculty Senate, Executive Vice President and Provost Earl Potter announced this morning the appointment of Dr. Josie Wilson as acting dean for the new College of Arts and Sciences. The College, as indicated as part of SOU President Mary Cullinan’s final budget plan presented early last week, will merge three existing Schools of Arts and Letters, Sciences and Social Sciences in order to achieve budget savings, as well as enhance interdisciplinary program offerings.
Dr. Wilson will lead the development of the College, scheduled to be born on July 1, 2007, forming a steering committee to guide the implementation of a plan for the formation of the new college. Dr. Potter explained, “The process for the creation of the college will be broadly inclusive and will allow time for thoughtful deliberation on the mission, structure and culture of the college. It is likely that this work will take most of the next academic year.”
Dr. Josie Wilson is currently Dean of the School of Social Sciences at SOU. She is a clinical psychologist with extensive experience as a counselor educator at Southern Oregon University and was a licensed practitioner here and in New York. Josie was a Fulbright Scholar in 1999-2000 and taught in Mexico at the University of Guanajuato, School of Psychology. She has continued collaborating with her Mexican colleagues and helped develop an immersion course on cultural competence for health professionals for summer 07.
Of the appointment, Dr. Wilson said, “I’m truly excited and honored about the opportunity to help create the College of Arts and Sciences. This will hopefully establish a structure to support students and faculty in their work with each other.” Wilson continued by saying, “I also appreciate the complexity of the task of creating the College. Fortunately, we have many enlightened people in our community who will be part of the development. We’ve created a process that will be open, inclusive and direct so that the College will really be a creation of all of us.”
Dr. Wilson has a broad academic background, beginning as a Chemistry major and eventually earning a B.A. in Spanish from the University of Wisconsin. She was an elementary teacher for several years before returning to school for a M.A. in counseling from Western Michigan University. She earned her doctorate in Clinical Psychology from Georgia State University. As a psychologist she has worked with people from 3 to 80 years old, including vets, couples, and school children. In 1988 she and her husband Michael Belsky moved to Ashland where she began teaching in the Psychology Department. There she taught child development and counseling course. She was the Coordinator of the Mental Health Counseling program for 3 years and Chair of the department for 3 years, before becoming Interim Dean. In 2005, she was appointed Dean on a permanent basis.
Dr. Wilson enjoys the outdoor life that Ashland provides, frequently jogging with her dog around the park or walking with friends in the watershed. She and her husband and daughter Paulina take pleasure in traveling throughout the world, especially to places with great snorkeling, interesting cultures, and different foods.
For more information on the new College of Arts and Sciences, please contact Dr. Wilson at 541-552-6251 or email to jwilson@sou.edu
###
