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McMinn named vice president for academic affairs, dean of college

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Posted on Tuesday, July 21, 2020

Dr. Jamie McMinn, associate dean of academic affairs and professor of psychology, was appointed vice president for academic affairs and dean of Westminster College, effective July 1.

McMinn fills the vacancy created following the resignation of Dr. Jeffrey Coker.

“We look forward to Dr. McMinn’s continued leadership on campus,” Westminster College President Dr. Kathy Brittain Richardson said. “His years of experience, deep knowledge of the Campus and effective educational practice have prepared him for these new responsibilities.”

McMinn brings nearly 20 years of Westminster experience to the role. He joined the faculty as assistant professor of psychology in 2003 and was named associate dean in 2014. In 2017 he took on additional duties as assistant to the president for College relations, partnering closely with the Board of Distinguished Visitors, local and regional foundation partners and federal and state leaders.

He has served as Westminster’s accreditation liaison to the Middle States Commission on Higher Education and he completed the Council of Independent Colleges Senior Leadership Academy in 2018.

“Westminster students are central to everything that I do and Westminster’s faculty members have always impressed me with their ingenuity, energy and student-centered focus,” McMinn said. “My faculty colleagues have been creative and forward-thinking as they have developed curricula that respond to our students’ needs and interests, and I am eager to collaborate on new opportunities that bring Westminster’s comprehensive liberal arts education to new generations of Titans.”

In addition to his work at Westminster, McMinn serves in a leadership role with the College Board’s Advanced Placement (AP) exam in psychology.  He has been responsible for training high school and college teachers of psychology on a rubric that enables reliable scoring of high school students’ AP psychology essays.

During the previous seven years, he also served as the chair for the Society for the Teaching of Psychology’s program at the American Psychological Association convention.  This work was recognized with a Society presidential citation in 2019.  Currently, McMinn serves as a consulting editor for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning in Psychology journal, and his published research has appeared in the Center for Case Study Teaching in the Sciences, various books and peer-reviewed journals in social psychology.

McMinn earned his undergraduate degree from Emory & Henry College and a master’s degree and Ph.D. from the University of Pittsburgh. He resides in Pittsburgh with his spouse and two rescue dogs.