I write with exciting news from the Glasscock School and Rice University. We are extremely pleased to announce that Dr. Robert Bruce Jr. will be joining Rice November 1, 2017 as the new dean of the Susanne M. Glasscock School of Continuing Studies. Dr. Bruce is currently at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and serving in the roles of director of the William and Ida Friday Center for Continuing Education, director of the Carolina Office for Online Learning (COOL), and as a teaching assistant professor in the Department of English and Comparative Literature.
Dr. Bruce received his B.A. in English from the University of Texas at Austin, and his master’s and Ph.D. in English from Texas A&M University. At UNC-Chapel Hill since 2011, Dr. Bruce has developed and successfully implemented a strategic plan for the Friday Center, led a team of 43 full-time staff and 200 instructors, and managed the center’s $12.5 million annual budget. He launched the university’s massive open online course (MOOC) initiative and led the creation of the UNC CORE program designed to serve active-duty service members, veterans, and National Guard and Reserve members with general education college opportunities. In July 2016, he established the Carolina Office for Online Learning (COOL) and positioned UNC-Chapel Hill as a leader in online programming.
Prior to joining UNC-Chapel Hill, Dr. Bruce worked with the Center for Instructional Technologies at the University of Texas at Austin, where he spent nearly 15 years in positions ranging from an admissions officer and curriculum director of the Distance Education Center to associate dean for the Division of Institutional Innovation and Assessment and finally as associate dean of continuing and innovative education.
All of us here welcome Dr. Bruce as the leader of this next chapter in our school’s service to the broader community.
It has been my great pleasure and honor to serve our thousands of students as dean of this fine school at this fine university for 31 years and to celebrate this year our 50th anniversary of the founding of Continuing Studies. I have no doubt that the school will continue to evolve and grow even stronger in the coming years.
Sincerely,
Mary McIntire