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See the email below from Dr. Jackson.  VP for Student Life, Dr. Knowles, is transitioning into his Professor position.  He will step down effective June 30, 2011.  This is of particular interest considering its timing with the beginning of the CLASS Initiative rollout.  Dr. Knowles has largely been the architect of CLASS. He has worked at RPI for 33 years, including as Dean of Students.

You might be interested to read some of the posts in which he has been tagged.

To:    The Rensselaer Community
From:  Shirley Ann Jackson, Ph.D.
President
Professor of Physics
Professor of Engineering Sciences
Date:  May 11, 2010
Re:    Announcement of Vice President for Student Life Transition

It is with mixed emotions that I inform you that Eddie Ade Knowles, Vice President for Student Life and Adjunct Faculty in the Department of the Arts, will step down from his vice presidency next year. Effective June 30, 2011, he will transition to a position as Professor of Practice in the School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences. By announcing this transition now, we facilitate preparation for a national search for a Vice President for Student Life and a seamless transition to new leadership. As a 33-year veteran of Rensselaer, Dr. Knowles has witnessed a transformation in the way the university supports its students. When he arrived in 1977 as assistant dean of students and coordinator of minority student programs, he doubled as responsible officer to Immigration and Naturalization Service and foreign student advisor. In 1979, he founded the Office of Minority Student Affairs (OMSA) and became the Institute’s first dean of minority student affairs, overseeing programs and student support services for underrepresented groups in the sciences, technology, engineering, and mathematics professions. He was named dean of students in 1982, interim Vice President for Student Life in 2000, and following a national search appointed to the position of Vice President for Student Life in 2001.

A tireless advocate for Rensselaer students, Dr. Knowles has focused on creating a range of opportunities for students. Under his leadership, several signature programs have been created. Examples include: the Learning Center as part of OMSA (now part of the Advising and Learning Assistance Center); the Bridge and PREFACE summer programs focused on identifying, nurturing, and supporting the next generation of historically underrepresented students to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics; and the Intervention Team, a multidisciplinary group of faculty and staff responsible for creating campus-wide strategies to increase the “safety net” and student retention strategies.

It was my pleasure to work closely with Dr. Knowles to elevate the student experience as a key component of The Rensselaer Plan. Through his leadership and team-building skills, he has demonstrated an outstanding ability to enhance diversity and collaborate with multiple constituencies. Over the years, Dr. Knowles has worked with his staff to further integrate academic and student life initiatives in support of student academic success, while enhancing mentoring, community building, and experiential opportunities for student growth and development.

Now entering its tenth season of programming, the concept of a “first-year experience” was a top priority in The Rensselaer Plan. Dr. Knowles, working with members of the Student Life Division, was instrumental in establishing the Office of the First-Year Experience and the award winning first-year experience initiative, including Navigating Rensselaer and Beyond (NRB). With an ultimate goal of achieving student success, the First-Year Experience (FYE) also aims to have students build healthy and meaningful bonds with each other that will last not only through their time at Rensselaer, but also into the alumni/ae years.

Building on the success of the FYE program, under my direction, Dr. Knowles and the Student Life team launched the Clustered Learning, Advocacy and Support for Students (CLASS) initiative. CLASS aims to transform the student experience by elevating the quality of support for students throughout the undergraduate years, creating a unique residential undergraduate college within a world-class technological research university.

Dr. Knowles also was a key member of the team that brought us the East Campus Athletic Village, which in its first year is serving to further advance the student experience in very tangible ways, opening a new range of athletic, social, and cultural opportunities to the student body.

Dr. Knowles serves as project leader for Rensselaer’s “progressive dialogue” STEM initiative. Following up on a statewide event held at Rensselaer last June, Rensselaer continued the “progressive dialogue” series about science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education across New York State. The initiative, funded by a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, is focused on the design of a strategic roadmap for increasing the number of students – from all backgrounds – aspiring to and prepared for STEM disciplines.

As one looks around the campus, it is truly evident that Dr. Knowles has left an indelible mark as an accomplished educator and administrator that will forever be imprinted in the fabric of the university community. And as some of you may already know, he has led another professional life at Rensselaer-one equally popular with students, centering on his love of music.

Dr. Knowles is an accomplished musician with over 40 years of performance, residency, workshop, and recording credits as a percussionist. His artistic focus is on African and Afro-Cuban rhythms and associated percussion instruments. As adjunct faculty in the Department of the Arts, he teaches the very popular course Introduction to Afro-Cuban Percussion. As an extension of his course, he is founder and artistic director of Ensemble Congeros, a group of Rensselaer alumni/ae and students dedicated to the study and performance of Afro-Cuban, African, and New World Percussion.

Dr. Knowles has performed and/or recorded with the Dinizulu Dancers, Drummers and Singers; Amagagu ka Shaka South African Dance and Music Company; The Simba Dancers and Drummers; Kim & Reggie Harris; Caribe Mambo; Gil-Scott Heron and the Midnight Band; and The Original Last Poets. He was also the co-founder and artistic managing director of the Griot Dance Company and The New African Music Collective.

A resident of Troy, Knowles has received wide recognition and honors for his work in education, community service, and the arts. He is a past member, program chair, and chairman of the board of directors of the Troy Savings Bank Music Hall, past board member of Sponsors for Educational Opportunity in New York, and the Edwin Gould Foundation for Children in New York. He currently serves as chairman of the board of directors of the Center for Urban Youth in Technology at the University at Albany.

Dr. Knowles has often said that he sees himself as an artist educator, noting that through his teaching he helps students get in touch with the rhythms of their lives that influence how they approach their being as individuals and as members of an intellectual community. In his role as professor of practice in Rensselaer’s School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences, Dr. Knowles will continue to teach and further develop Ensemble Congeros. In addition, he will conduct workshops, lecture, support internationalizing the student experience by promoting music study tours to Africa, Cuba, and other parts of the world, and generally help to continue the elevation of the arts at Rensselaer.

Dr. Knowles is a highly regarded professional whose work at Rensselaer throughout his career has earned him the respect of his colleagues in student life throughout the nation. It has been an extraordinary experience to work with Dr. Knowles. I will always remember fondly his many works, tireless devotion, contagious enthusiasm, and ageless wisdom on behalf of elevating the student experience at Rensselaer.

In the coming months, I will share with you more news on leadership for the Division of Student Life, as well as our longer-term plans. We will also announce a time for an event during the coming academic year to celebrate the outstanding work that Dr. Knowles has accomplished over the years.

This is an exciting opportunity for Dr. Knowles as he looks forward to the new experiences ahead of him. Please join me in extending our sincere congratulations and best wishes in his future endeavors.

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