Dr. Robin Rylaarsdam, Saint Xavier University’s new Dean of Arts and Sciences sat down with the Xavierite for an interview. The Dean shared details about her experience, educational philosophy, and role within the University.
Rylaarsdam is from rural Iowa, where she attended Northwestern College, a liberal arts college, as an undergraduate.
“Northwestern is an NAIA school too and I’m kind of hoping the basketball teams do well because the national championships are in that corner of Iowa. I can go cheer the Cougars on, visit my parents and sister and maybe cheer my alma mater on too, when they’re not playing the Cougars,” Rylaarsdam said.
Dr. Rylaarsdam moved from a small town in Iowa to downtown Chicago, and attended Illinois’ Northwestern University as a graduate student.
“I used to go walk by the lake because I felt so claustrophobic with all the buildings around me and the lake was just open. I could feel almost like I was in the plains a little bit,” Rylaarsdam said.
Dean Rylaarsdam’s professional career brought her to Trinity Christian College and Benedictine University. She explained that these experiences have had similar themes.
“Something that has been in common for all the past jobs I’ve had is that they’ve been at schools that really care about educating students, about serving students first and foremost and reaching out to students who have tremendous potential to learn but who don’t always fit the stereotype of the ‘perfect student,’” Rylaarsdam explained.
“You have plenty of great students here at Saint Xavier, there are great students at Benedictine where I’m coming from, and there are great students at Trinity Christian. The understanding that everyone is at a different place in their educational pathway and the students who come to our doorstep are the ones we are going to serve, requires us to think of how to reach those students,” Dr. Rylaarsdam said.
“I really love the mission of this institution which is all about outreach, justice, serving the community around and recognizing that the community around changes through the history of an institution. Asking who are the people showing up at our doorstep today, are we welcoming them and not asking them to be different but asking ourselves how we can be different?” Rylaarsdam commented.
Community service is core to Rylaarsdam’s beliefs. She is a volunteer at her church’s homeless ministry, and helps during the Vacation Bible School.
“Service can be so enriching to learn because learning isn’t just a classroom thing. It isn’t just doing your homework and reading your textbooks; learning is more than that. Learning is growing in all sorts of ways,” Rylaarsdam shared.
The Dean of Arts and Sciences shared several goals, beginning with introductions to faculty and students. Dr. Rylaarsdam aims to establish a Student Advisory Board to the Dean’s Office within her first semester to understand the student experience further.
“It was pretty clear when I interviewed that students need a voice as well. I’d like to work with Student Affairs to see if I can get essentially a Student Advisory Board to the Dean’s office. Maybe we can identify four to five broad disciplinary groups and designate a representative from each, who can meet with me at least once a month to just give me feedback and share what the student experience is like,” Dean Rylaarsdam said.
Dr. Rylaarsdam has successfully facilitated student-administration collaboration in the past and aims to continue at Saint Xavier.
“I had a College of Science Student Advisory Board at Benedictine and I learned from them a lot of student perspective. One example is they thought the science building was dull and really outdated in the decor, so I found a little money to take down bulletin boards that looked like they were from the Reagan Administration, patched and repaired the wall, and hung up student posters that showed student-faculty research. Students could display their own work in the building and visually it was a lot more interesting, “Rylaarsdam said.
Dean Rylaarsdam elaborated on Saint Xavier’s nonnegotiable goals.
“Whatever we’re doing I hope we’re doing it better in 5 to 10 years,” Dr. Rylaarsdam said.
Rylaarsdam plans on fostering community.
“The idea of community, that students feel like a valued member of the community and that the community is supporting their learning. That’s why they’re coming to the community, to learn,” Dean Rylaarsdam stated.
“Faculty should continue to focus on ‘how can I help my students to learn better, and how can I structure my class in a way that supports student learning better? What’s my contribution to helping students succeed more?’” Dr. Rylaarsdam said. Rylaarsdam highlighted the University’s central mission from the Sisters of Mercy. “We have a tremendous legacy, a tremendous Mission from The Sisters of Mercy. They heard that call in their own lives and as a group to have this educational experience for students,” Dean Rylaarsdam said.
“That invitation to all comers, to whoever you are, come here and learn, is something I hope we’re even better known for in 5 to 10 years. We should be publicly showing welcome and commitment to service,” Rylaarsdam explained.
Dr. Rylaarsdam aims to use technology as a beneficial educational supplement. “I think that learning independently through online programs is really an important skill in today’s world. It’s going to be how you, at some point in your career, do professional development,” Rylaarsdam explained.
“I’m still a full believer in classroom community and looking students in the eye. There’s something human about learning from other humans in person, but that skill of learning from other humans across distances between electrons is still a really good skill to develop and foster,” Rylaarsdam said.
Dr. Rylaarsdam, Saint Xavier University’s Dean of Arts and Sciences, shared what faculty and students may hear when they stop in to her office.
“I really like 80s rock music, so if you come to visit me in my office and there’s a little Van Halen or Journey playing in the background, it’s not me being angry and needing to vent, it’s just what I listen to,” Dean Rylaarsdam shared.
“I heard on NPR that your musical taste calcifies before you hit 30, so there’s no accounting for my taste anymore,” Rylaarsdam concluded.
John Murawski
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