As RWC Dean Barbara Bardes’s 10-year term of service draws to a close, a reception in her honor will be held Wednesday, May 7, from 3 p.m.-5 p.m. in the Muntz Theater. All students, faculty, and staff are invited to attend this event celebrating her contributions to RWC. Dean Bardes has faithfully served RWC for over ten years as Dean, nurturing the college into a community where academic excellence is achieved. Associate Dean of Academic Affairs Don O’ Meara stated that during her tenure Dean Bardes provided “strong, visionary leadership at a time of transition, mistrust and anxiety in the college’s history. Barbara provided the type of leadership required of the college during her early years: leadership that created stability, trust and a sense of reinvigorated energy to move forward. She transformed the culture of the college by deftly balancing an emphasis upon the then current strengths of the college with identifying visionary goals for future college achievement.”
During her ten years, Dean Bardes has ushered in a myriad of academic programs and initiatives to RWC’s campus. Just a few of her notable accomplishments include:
* Supporting faculty development of an “assessment of student academic achievement” that is a nationally recognized model for course-based assessment of critical thinking;
* Approval of Technical Baccalaureate degree offerings: the first program approved was the Baccalaureate of Radiation Science Technology;
* Weekend Degree Program in Pre-Business Administration;
* Strengthening and extending the college’s international studies programs;
* Development of new two-year career degree programs, such as Electronic Media Technology and Emergency Medical Services;
* Strengthening existing career and transfer programs and the overall academic curriculum.
In addition, Dean Bardes was instrumental in seeing the rise of the new Science and Allied Health Building, complete with state of the art facilities, the Muntz Hall renovation, which included the new Student Services OneStop Center, Bookstore, Library and computer concourse and new parking, access and landscaping resulting in a far more attractive, accessible campus.
Dean Bardes will be remembered for far more than her contributions to academics and the physical aspects of the college, leaving a legacy of true leadership.
Ginny Hizer, Director of College Relations, said about Dean Bardes, “During her ten years, people began to see RWC differently, they started to feel different about themselves and our perceptions enhanced. Before we were kind of forgotten to UC, where now RWC has come into our own in our own right and much of that is due to her leadership.”
“Dean Bardes is able to lead people and groups to task success and make them feel better about themselves and the college in the process,” stated Associate Dean O’Meara. “I, for one, consider her an excellent model of leadership and feel incredibly lucky to have had her as my mentor.”
When asked what she felt her greatest accomplishment at RWC to be, Dean Bardes replied that it was in “seeing the faculty and staff develop and implement new programs meeting the needs of our students and society today,” citing examples such as the weekend degree program, clinical research, nursing at Clermont and medical assisting program.
Dean Bardes’s vision for RWC is one of buoyant optimism and confidence. She hopes to see more Bachelor’s completion and Master’s programs offered in Blue Ash and hopes that the college continues to develop new programs and offer new baccalaureate degrees. “I hope that in the future RWC becomes an important campus to many more of the Clifton-based colleges,” Dean Bardes said.
When asked what her plans are for the future, Dean Bardes replied that she intends to spend the next year gardening, spending time with her granddaughters and family, quilting and being a scholar. “My intellectual projects include beginning a book on the American public and foreign policy and developing an online American Government course,” she stated.
We wish her the best of luck in her endeavors.