Andrew Hippisley, dean of Wichita State’s Fairmount College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, has accepted a position as vice provost for Academic Affairs at The University of Texas at Arlington (UTA). His last day at WSU will be July 2.
David Eichhorn, associate dean of the Fairmount College, will fill in as interim dean while the university conducts a national search for Hippisley’s replacement.
Hippisley has been dean at Wichita State for six years. During his time as dean, the Fairmount College has seen unprecedented growth in research, with proposal dollars nearly doubling from $22 million to $40 million a year and external dollars received increasing from $7 million to more than $13 million a year. Research strategies developed in this time include a discipline-specific workload policy and a buy-out policy.
In his time at WSU, Hippisley also helped launch new programs such as the master’s in mathematical data science, bachelor’s in applied linguistics, bachelor’s in American Sign Language, Associate of Sciences, and certificates in sustainability studies, ArcGIS and space sciences. In addition, he helped create new academic pathways through the Law 3+3 program with University of Kansas School of Law, a 4+3 pathway with the Kansas College of Osteopathic Medicine, and articulation agreements with multiple community colleges.
“Under my leadership, the college has overhauled its requirements to reframe them as competencies that are outcomes of a liberal arts education in order to make explicit the career-readiness value of a liberal arts and sciences education,” Hippisley said.
Community engagement has also been one of Hippisley’s priorities as he made strong efforts to strengthen the college’s ties with its alumni base. In partnership with the WSU Foundation, Hippisley has helped secure $24 million to support the mission of the Fairmount College and has developed new industrial and business partnerships, including a legal professions advisory board and an industrial math clinic.
“It has been a pleasure working with Dean Hippisley as both a fellow dean and as a colleague over the years,” said Dr. Shirley Lefever, provost and executive vice president of Wichita State. “He has brought a vision of collaboration and strategic thinking during his tenure that has resulted in more interdisciplinary programs and increased research productivity across several departments in the college. We wish him well in his new role.”