CANTON, Mo. — Culver-Stockton College president Kelly M. Thompson has appointed Dr. Lauren Schellenberger the dean of the College and the vice president for academic affairs effective immediately.
Schellenberger was appointed interim vice president for academic affairs and the dean of the College in June 2018, replacing Daniel Silber. She is only the second woman to be the dean since the position was created in 1920.
“Dr. Schellenberger’s service to the college has been exemplary,” Thompson said. “She is the right leader at the right time to help us collaboratively develop our next strategic plan and enhance the college’s identity in higher education as a leader in experiential learning.”
The vice president for academic affairs and dean plays a key role in leading the faculty and community in concert with the College’s strategic plan, providing vision and direction for enhancing student success, academic programs and curricular innovation. The vice president for academic affairs and dean oversees the College’s three academic divisions, as well as the library, marketing/public relations, career services, registrar, first-year experience, honors programs and study abroad.
Schellenberger joined the faculty at C-SC in the fall of 2008 as an assistant professor of biology, then became a tenured associate professor in 2014 before becoming the chair of the Applied Liberal Arts and Sciences division.
Some of Schellenberger’s work has been published in scholarly journals such as Science Education and the International Journal of Science Education. She’s a peer reviewer for the Higher Learning Commission, the regional accrediting body for 19 states, and she participated in the Senior Leadership Academy through the Council of Independent Colleges in 2016-17.
She received the Helsabeck Prize for Excellence in Teaching from C-SC in 2016 and the Walter S. Reuling Prize for Innovation in Student Learning from C-SC in 2011.
Schellenberger received her bachelor’s degree in crop science-plant protection from the University of Illinois in 2001. She received her master’s degree in botany and plant pathology from Purdue University in 2003, and she received her doctorate from Purdue in biology education in 2009.
She is the treasurer of an international academic organization known as the Association of Academic Programs in Latin America and the Caribbean. She has made presentations at locations such as Bogota, Colombia, and Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. Schellenberger, along with history professor Scott Giltner, have led more than 100 students in study abroad courses to Belize and Guatemala since 2010. She helped establish an ongoing relationship with a school in Belize and a children’s program in Guatemala, and the students she accompanies have completed service projects at these locations and raised funds for school supplies and scholarships.
Schellenberger has been a member of the Canton Branch of the American Association of University Women since 2009 and once served as the vice president. She also has been a member of the Canton Area Arts Council since 2008, and she’s member of the City of Canton Tree Board.
Before starting her career in higher education, Schellenberger was an independent contractor for Bayer CropScience and BASF Corporation in Illinois, Indiana and Ohio.
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Contact the Marketing & Public Relations Office, at pr@culver.edu or 573-288-6000 ext. 6728 for more information.
NOTE: A number that appears immediately after a person’s name (i.e. Jane Doe ’18) is a reference to the year that person earned their bachelor’s degree from Culver-Stockton.