By Bri Brands 

Just over 20 years ago, Gwen Archibald was an English student in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, considering pursuing a career in higher education administration. 

Recently, Gwen returned to CLAS as the new assistant dean for undergraduate education and curriculum, bringing over 20 years of experience into the role. 

Gwen received her bachelor's in English, master's in student development in postsecondary education, and PhD in higher education and student affairs, all from the University of Iowa.

Gwen previously worked for the Department of Health Management and Policy in the College of Public Health and is excited to bring her expertise to her new role. 

Gwen’s first day was Aug. 15. Learn more about Gwen, her aspirations for her new role, and what she loves about Iowa City in this Q&A.  

Can you tell us about your career prior to this role? 

I’ve been at the University of Iowa for the last eight years as the director of student services and academic program support and the graduate program coordinator for the Department of Health Management and Policy in the College of Public Health, as well as an adjunct assistant professor.  

My career in higher education has spanned over 20 years, and it started right here at the University of Iowa when I was a student in CLAS, majoring in English and minoring in psychology. CLAS taught me to see the world in a different way, to think about how to deconstruct literature, understand where things are coming from, and understand perspective.  

I got a job at the office of admissions, where I talked to prospective students and helped them think about what they might want to do in college, and that was really the start of it all. When I started talking to the professional staff, they told me I can build my whole career around higher education administration and around this idea of helping people navigate their way through college. 

After getting my master’s, I spent about eight years in the Chicagoland area: first at Loyola University Chicago, then at Columbia College, and finally at Northwestern University.  

I came back here to the University of Iowa because they had an outstanding doctoral program in higher education and student affairs. After a number of years in the director role in the Department of Health Management and Policy, I started thinking about what the next step would be for me, and I thought about moving back into an area with more breadth, and how I can continue to expand across different academic disciplines and take some of the lessons I’ve learned here at the College of Public Health and expand them to benefit others around campus. 

What excited you about the Assistant Dean for Undergraduate Education and Curriculum role in CLAS? 

I can really feel the strategic intention on the part of the college and that idea of taking what we know and what we’ve learned and using that to keep our improvements and process moving forward. The curriculum is always under construction at a university like this—we’re always modifying it and making it better and thinking through how to teach. There’s just so much dynamic change going on in the world. 

If I can be a connector and a navigator for our faculty, that’s such an attractive opportunity for me, because I’ve been in a position where I have seen the benefits of paying close attention to what your curriculum is doing and seeing how your students benefit from that, and that’s the intention I saw from CLAS—not just in what they have been doing for the last few years, but in what they plan to keep doing. It’s exciting to have the opportunity to be a part of it. 

What are you most looking forward to in your new role? 

Being able to make an impact is what I’m most looking forward to. What I have sensed from the CLAS team coming into this position was a real focus on relationship and connection and how that helps move things forward.  

What I see from Dean Sanders is that she's working hard to bring people to the table so issues can be solved, and new creative thinking and ideas can be brought forward. 

I’m super excited about potential outcomes, but I’m also excited about the relationships and where those can lead to outcomes down the line, because it’s one of my favorite things about this work. 

What do you enjoy most about Iowa City? 

I’m a city person through and through, and I love the energy of places like that—just the different places and people you’ll see, from restaurants to art to theater to just something interesting all the time. 

Iowa City is like that, but in a smaller environment, and I think lots of college towns have that benefit—it’s a reason we’re often named as one of the best college towns. What you get here is a vibrant art community. You get a vibrant literary community. You get sports. You get students playing disc golf on campus. There’s real energy to a place and a space like this.