Dr. Susan L. Holak, who serves as Interim Associate Provost for Institutional Effectiveness and Professor of Marketing at the College of Staten Island/CUNY, recently graduated from the 2008 Class of the Higher Education Resource Services (HERS) Bryn Mawr Summer Institute, held June 21-July 16 at Bryn Mawr College, Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania. The Summer Institute, a 32-year partnership between Bryn Mawr College and Higher Education Resource Services, is the premier residential professional development program dedicated to the advancement of women leaders in higher education administration.
The 64 participants selected for this year’s Summer Institute represented 59 colleges, community colleges, and universities from 26 states, as well as Canada and the Marshall Islands. The participants included a number of vice presidents, vice provosts, and associate vice chancellors, as well as deans, directors, and chairs of academic and administrative departments. The broad range of experiences across disciplines, sectors, and positions offered a unique environment to evaluate critical issues confronting higher education today.
The faculty of the Summer Institute was composed of over 40 senior officers from colleges and universities, national organizations, and accrediting associations. Among the faculty this year were Belle Wheelan, President of the Commission on Colleges, Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS); Claire van Ummersen, Vice President for Effective Leadership, American Council on Education (ACE); R. Barbara Gitenstein, President, The College of New Jersey; Janet Dickerson, Vice President for Campus Life, Princeton University; Pamela Gunter-Smith, Provost of Drew University; and Annette Parker, Vice President for Finance, Dickinson College.
Dr. Holak has been at the College of Staten Island/CUNY since 1992, serving as Associate Provost (Interim) since August 2007. Her responsibilities include overseeing selective learning communities, managing and promoting academic programs, and leading the reaccreditation process. During her tenure at the College of Staten Island she has served in other leadership roles including the area chairperson of marketing in the Business Department (2003-2007) and the Director of the William E. Macaulay Honors College of CUNY/CSI (2005-2007).
Susan Holak earned a BS in Economics from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, where she was named to Beta Gamma Sigma, the business honorary society. She received an MPhil and PhD in Business from Columbia University. Her research interests include new product development, consumer behavior, and cross-cultural marketing. Dr. Holak has published research on consumer response to innovations, advertising-sales relationships, and the impact of nostalgia on consumer behavior. Recent work investigates nostalgia-proneness and its measurement in the U.S., Japan, and Eastern Europe. Dr. Holak’s research has appeared in many publications including Journal of Marketing, Journal of Marketing Research, Journal of Business Research, Journal of Retailing, Journal of Product Innovation Management, Marketing Letters, Advances in Consumer Research, and European Advances in Consumer Research.
Dr. Holak was the recipient of an AACSB Fellowship and a Richard D. Irwin Fellowship for her doctoral studies. Supporting her interests in international education, Susan Holak was awarded a 1997 Sasakawa Fellowship to attend the Japan Studies Institute at San Diego State University, a month-long program co-sponsored by AASCU. She has taught as a visiting professor at the American University of Rome, where she is currently a member of the Business Advisory Committee.
Dr. Holak’s participation in the HERS Bryn Mawr Summer Institute was sponsored by the Office of Academic Affairs and the Office of the President. For more information about Dr. Susan L. Holak go to www.csi.cuny.edu. For more information about HERS visit www.hersnet.org. For more information on Bryn Mawr College go to www.brynmawr.edu. For more information about The City University of New York visit www.cuny.edu.
