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Nebraska Native Named Dean May 20, 2004  education has been named the dean of Western Kentucky University's Division of Extended Learning and Outreach (DELO).Dr. Donald W. Swoboda will begin his job at WKU on July 1. He replaces Dr. Audrey S. Anderson, who served as interim dean during DELO's inaugural year. DELO brings together 10 campus units into one division to deliver credit and non-credit educational opportunities and to enhance the University's outreach mission. "I can't describe in words how excited I am about coming to Western Kentucky University and joining the Division of Extended Learning and Outreach," he said. Provost Barbara Burch said Dr. Swoboda "brings a wealth of leadership experience in the areas of adult education and continuing studies." He has held chief administrative positions at the University of Missouri, the University of Arizona, and most recently at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln where he served as dean of the Division of Continuing Studies. A native of Norfolk, Neb., Dr. Swoboda earned his bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees at the University of Nebraska. "My passion, for my entire professional career, has been to use as many ways as possible to share the resources of my university with the people of the state and beyond," he said. "I believe this should be the outreach mission of every public university. The joy of working in outreach is that you have the opportunity to help make dreams come true for your customers. To me, this is the real reward for lifelong learning workers." Dr. Swoboda thanked Dr. Anderson "for the tremendous job she has done in leading and nurturing the newly born DELO organization in its beginning stages. All of us in DELO together with our campus and external partners will build and grow from her efforts into a world class outreach unit, reflective of the reputation for quality in all areas of WKU." Dr. Burch also thanked Dr. Anderson for her service. "With the help of Dr. Anderson and the continuing work of the DELO staff, this new division is well poised to make Western's intellectual and academic knowledge and talents available to a range of constituents in our region, the state, and beyond," she said. Dr. Swoboda also served as dean of extended university and summer session at the University of Arizona (1994-96), vice provost for extension and education professor at the University of Missouri (1987-94), associate dean and associate director of University of Nebraska Cooperative Extension Service and agriculture professor at University of Nebraska-Lincoln (1979-87), and assistant director for agriculture programs and extension reports at University of Nebraska Cooperative Extension Service (1974-79). He also has been active in state, regional and national continuing education organizations. Dr. Swoboda and his wife, Ginny, have two married daughters and two grandchildren. The WKU units brought together by DELO include: Carroll Knicely Conference Center, Carroll Knicely Institute for Economic Development, Center for Training and Development, Continuing Education, Correspondence Study, Extended Campus Services (formerly Distance Learning), Distance Education (formerly Distributed Learning), Extended Campuses (Glasgow, Owensboro, Elizabethtown/Fort Knox), Small Business Development Center and Summer Sessions. For information on DELO, visit www.wku.edu/DELO For more information, contact Academic Affairs at (270) 745-2296. More WKU news is available on the World Wide Web at www.wku.edu. If you'd like to receive WKU news via E-mail, send a message to WKUNews@wku.edu.
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