GREENEVILLE – A former provost and vice president of academic affairs with nearly 40 years of administrative and teaching experience in higher education has been named an assistant vice president and a dean at Tusculum University.

Dr. Amiel Jarstfer has joined the Tusculum family as associate vice president for academic innovation and dean of the School of Arts and Sciences as part of an updated oversight structure that is designed to effectively meet the needs of students, faculty and assistant deans.

He will supervise the assistant deans for the Math and Science, Social Science and Humanities divisions, lead the development of new academic programs and execute findings from the ongoing new program study.

“We are thrilled to add Dr. Jarstfer to the academic team and will benefit greatly from his expertise,” said Dr. David Cook, Tusculum’s provost and vice president of academic affairs. “He has a proven track record of producing positive results on the undergraduate and graduate levels. Dr. Jarstfer’s vast experience will position Tusculum for even greater success by identifying programs of study that will keep us on the cutting edge of higher education.”

Besides the addition of Dr. Jarstfer, Tusculum has promoted Dr. John Alpers to dean of the School of Business, Education and Sport. He will supervise the assistant deans for the Education and Sport Studies divisions and continue in his role of leading the Business Division. Dr. Alpers also serves as a business professor and director of Tusculum’s honors program.

Dr. Jarstfer and Dr. Alpers will be responsible for developing the overall strategy and direction of their schools and the supervision and day-to-day academic operation of them. They will also have oversight of personnel leadership, evaluation and development.

Tusculum will continue to have assistant deans for each of the programs that fall under the two schools. These seasoned educators will manage the daily operational and student-facing matters in concert with their deans, support faculty within their specific disciplines and serve as the boots-on-the-ground academic leaders.

“We regularly examine our academic structure to ensure it is serving our students, faculty and university in the best manner,” Dr. Cook said. “This new structure will enable us to operate seamlessly by keeping the communication flow strong within the academic enterprise. In addition, it keeps ourselves attuned to having the programs of study in place that prepare our students to be career-ready and achieve their calling and purpose. We will also continue to be aligned with workforce needs.”

Dr. Jarstfer served as provost and professor of biology for six years at Ashland University in Ohio and was twice named acting president. Among his achievements was establishing new academic programs in industrial and systems engineering in the bachelor’s realm and physician assistant studies, business analytics, supply chain and STEM in the graduate sphere.

He also created multiple certificate options at graduate, undergraduate and noncredit levels.