Elizabeth G. Roop Appointed Interim President of Housatonic Community College

The Board of Regents for Higher Education approved the appointment of Elizabeth G. Roop as Housatonic Community College’s (HCC) Interim President effective Sept. 1, 2014. She is currently HCC’s Academic Dean, and succeeds President Anita Gliniecki who will retire as HCC president effective Sept. 1, 2014. Roop will serve until a new president is appointed by the Board of Regents.

She has served as HCC’s Academic Dean since 2007, and has 30 years of community college experience. Roop has served in academic affairs, student services, community relations, community education and workforce development as part of rural, suburban and urban community college campuses.

At HCC, Roop supervises five academic departments with more than 75 full-time and 300 part-time lecturers, as well as staff in academic support services, evening division, library and media services, distance learning, and in HCC’s Honors Program and Center for Teaching. In addition, she currently serves as the administrative lead on the campus-wide Strategic Planning Committee and a member of HCC’s Phase II Lafayette Hall Building Committee. Roop is also a member of the Connecticut PA 12-40 Developmental Advisory Committee, the Statewide Advanced Manufacturing Advisory Committee, and the Joint Academic Deans/Provosts Council.

“I have great pride in Housatonic Community College and am deeply honored to serve as interim president on behalf of Housatonic’s students, faculty and staff ,”  Roop said. “My recent and past leadership experience has prepared me well for this interim role, and my focus will be on quality student learning, student and employee engagement, stewardship of resources and community outreach.”

“Dean Roop is well-prepared for the challenges of leadership, and her dedication to students and faculty is an asset to Housatonic Community College,” said Board of Regents President Gregory Gray. “Her leadership skills and academic scholarship will make a positive impact on both the college and the Connecticut State Colleges and Universities system. We thank her for her continued service to Housatonic, and look forward to working with her in this new capacity."

Under her leadership, Academic Affairs at HCC was recognized for its work in developing assessment of student learning across campus, was designated as a National Science Foundation Mentor Connect College, and participated in the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching programs for accelerated learning in statistics and mathematics. As part of a
$2.1 million Department of Labor Trade Adjustment Act grant, HCC was awarded funding for the development of new academic programming in Computer Information Technology and Medical Assisting. In 2012, the college was designated as one of three new Advanced Manufacturing Centers in Connecticut.

Roop previously served as Associate Academic Dean at Massachusetts Bay Community College in Wellesley Hills, Mass.; and as Director of Community Education and Business and Industry Programs, and Assistant to the Vice President of Academic Affairs and Student Support at Greenfield Community College. Roop also served as Coordinator of Veterans Services, Assistant to the President, and Assistant Dean for Planning and Institutional Research at Middlesex Community College in Bedford and Lowell, Mass.

She holds an A.S. in Liberal Studies from Middlesex Community College in Bedford and Lowell, Mass.; a B.A. in Sociology from the University of Massachusetts in Lowell, Mass.; and an M.S. in Applied Management from Lesley University in Cambridge, Mass. She has completed all coursework for a doctorate in higher education at the University of Massachusetts, Boston.