Resendes appointed associate dean of assessment

Westminster College has appointed Dr. Karen Resendes as associate dean of assessment and the First-Year Experience.

Resendes is currently professor of biology and serves as director of Westminster College’s Drinko Center for Undergraduate Research, which encourages undergraduate scholarly research and oversees the annual Undergraduate Research and Arts Celebration (URAC). In her new role, which will begin after the conclusion of the spring semester, she will oversee the process of academic program review and work closely with Middle States on accreditation matters.

“Dr. Resendes has developed a strong reputation at Westminster and nationally for her work with curriculum development, assessment and undergraduate research,” said Westminster College Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean of the College Dr. Jamie McMinn. “I have appreciated and admired her work as Drinko director and know that she will bring the same commitment to her new role that she brings to URAC, summer research scholars and other programs that she has helped develop across her time at Westminster.”

“I am thrilled to transition into the role of associate dean at Westminster,” said Resendes. “This new position will provide me an opportunity to have a broad positive impact on our first-year student population, building on what I have learned by supporting college-wide undergraduate research and creative activity through the Drinko Center. Furthermore, I am excited to spearhead Westminster’s academic assessment efforts allowing the college’s curriculum to continue to provide our undergraduates with a comprehensive and innovative academic experience.”

Resendes joined the Westminster faculty as an assistant professor in 2009, achieving rank of full professor in 2021. She teaches courses in cell and molecular biology, cancer biology, and nuclear structure and function. Additionally, she teaches introductory courses for the biology major and the Westminster liberal arts curriculum.

She served as vice chair of the faculty this academic year and has been an active member of numerous committees throughout her tenure. She has chaired the Outcomes Assessment Advisory Committee, the All-College Honors Program Committee, the Undergraduate Research Advisory Council and the Research Professions Advisory Committee.

In 2020, she was awarded the prestigious Henderson Lectureship Award, which recognizes original and continuing research and scholarship among Westminster faculty.

Resendes serves as an executive board member for the Council on Undergraduate Research (CUR), which promotes high-quality undergraduate student-faculty collaborative research and scholarship.

She earned an undergraduate degree from the College of William and Mary and her Ph.D. in molecular biology, cell biology and biochemistry from Brown University. She performed post-doctoral research at the University of California, San Diego.

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