Rauch Named Associate Vice President for Accreditation, Assessment and Curriculum

KUTZTOWN, Pa. – Dr. Karen L. Rauch has been named Kutztown University’s associate vice president for accreditation, assessment and curriculum, effective immediately. Rauch has been with the university since 2001, including the last four years as associate provost.

The associate vice president serves as the curricular liaison to the State System, preparing curricular change process documentation and providing information to system offices as needed, etc. for undergraduate and graduate curriculum. Within the campus, Rauch will provide facilitation and oversight for undergraduate processes and collaborate with the dean of Graduate Studies for graduate processes. She will provide direction for General Education scheduling and curricular processes, including efforts related to the First Year Experience.

Rauch serves as the administrator for all aspects of accreditations, assessments and continuous improvements within the Division of Academic Affairs. She works with deans, department chairs, administrative directors, faculty and staff to facilitate and support a culture of assessment that improves the effectiveness of the educational experience the university provides to its students by collaborating with other divisions to promote institutional assessment and effectiveness.

“Dr. Rauch has provided invaluable leadership in our work to maintain excellence and identify opportunities for improvement in our educational activities for many years,” said Dr. Lorin Basden Arnold, provost and vice president for Academic Affairs. “This position will broaden the scope of her efforts in ways that will further support units across the campus. I look forward to continuing to collaborate with her in these important domains.”

In her 22 years at KU, Rauch has served as chair of the Department of Modern Language Studies from 2010-14, as interim associate dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences from 2015-17, as associate dean from 2017-19, and as associate provost for Accreditation and Assessment since July 2019.

Rauch is the Accreditation Liaison Officer for KU, serving as the primary point of contact between the university and the Middle States Commission on Higher Education, KU’s institutional accreditor. She is a published author; with her most recent publication as the co-author, along with Dr. Dawn Slack, associate professor of Spanish, of Disability in Spanish-speaking and U.S. Chicano Contexts: Critical and Artistic Perspectives, published in March 2019. During her time at KU, Rauch frequently attended and presented research at conferences on the local, national and international levels.

“Having grown up in the Kutztown area, I am particularly honored to continue serving the university and surrounding community through my work in this new role,” Rauch said. “I look forward to championing our General Education program, ensuring that our students graduate from KU with the skills, dispositions and knowledge necessary for their future professional and personal aspirations, as well as for their roles as citizens of a democratic society.”

Prior to her tenure at KU, Rauch served as chair of the Department of Foreign Languages and as the head of the Division of Arts and Humanities at Alvernia University.

Rauch earned bachelor's degrees in Spanish and French from DeSales University, a master's degree in Romance Studies from Duke University and a doctorate in Spanish from the University of Virginia.