Mark S. Filowitz has stepped into a new role on campus as associate vice president for academic programs, effective Jan. 1. He succeeds Pamella H. Oliver, who recently became provost and vice president for academic affairs.
Filowitz will provide leadership and oversight to ensure the quality of academic programs. His areas of stewardship include general education and undergraduate studies, graduate studies, the University Honors, Health Professions and First-Year Experience programs, and student success initiatives in collaboration with Student Affairs, academic advising and Writing Across the Curriculum.
He has served as associate dean for the College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics since 2008, and in 2016-17, concurrently served as interim associate vice president for academic operations. In 2000, Filowitz joined the university as a faculty member in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, following a 23-year career in the automotive industry. He taught general and physical chemistry and served as department co-chair from 2004-08.
Over the last decade, Filowitz has focused on developing replicable models to improve retention and graduation rates among STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) majors, with an emphasis on narrowing the achievement gap for underrepresented students. He has been instrumental in supporting supplemental instruction on campus to improve grades and passing rates in courses that limit a student’s ability to make progress toward graduation.
Filowitz is principal investigator and serves on the management team for projects that have garnered more than $15 million in external funding for STEM initiatives aimed at students transferring from community colleges to four-year universities. He currently directs “Regional Alliance in STEM Education: Raising the Bar in Transfer, Retention and Graduation Rates,” known as Project RAISE. The project is funded by a $5.8 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education, and expands and refines a successful STEM transfer model by partnering with eight regional community colleges.
Filowitz will serve in his new position until June 30, 2020, or until a search for a permanent associate vice president for academic programs is successfully completed. He holds a doctorate and two master’s degrees from Columbia University and earned his bachelor’s degree from New York University, all in chemistry.