We are pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. Sarah Stanlick as associate dean of The Global School, effective August 1, 2025.

A faculty member in the Department of Integrative and Global Studies, Dr. Stanlick is currently an assistant professor who will gain tenure and promotion to associate professor on July 1. She joined WPI five years ago and in 2022 became director of WPI’s signature first-year experience program, the Great Problems Seminar. As a member of the Global School leadership team, Dr. Stanlick is already an enthusiastic voice for project-based learning across the curriculum and an important advocate for WPI’s innovative pedagogy to external audiences. We are thrilled for her to be stepping into this new role that touches the entire WPI community.

Dr. Stanlick was awarded an AB in international studies from Lafayette College, an MA in conflict and coexistence studies from Brandeis University, and a PhD in learning sciences and technology from Lehigh University. She was the founding director of Lehigh University’s Center for Community Engagement and a faculty member in sociology and anthropology. She previously taught at Centenary College of New Jersey and was a researcher at Harvard Kennedy School, assisting U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power.

Dr. Stanlick has taught the Great Problems Seminar and the ID 2050 social science methods course, has advised numerous student projects in the Global Projects Program, and is co-director of the Reykjavik, Iceland, Project Center. She also has developed new courses for two graduate programs, advised and mentored undergraduate students in the Early Research Experience in E-Term, and advised graduate students. She is a regular participant in faculty learning communities at WPI and has engaged in collaborative work to advance the integration of open educational resources and open pedagogical practices across the WPI curriculum. She encourages and models engaged, active citizenship and helps create conditions for all community members to be able to engage similarly.

Her research and publications also contribute to the emerging area of digital technology within global service learning and community-engaged scholarship. Her work establishes crucial foundations for WPI to carry forward global project-based learning into the next era. Dr. Stanlick has served WPI on numerous university committees, most recently being appointed to the Board of Trustee’s Student Affairs Committee. She has also made significant service contributions to the profession nationally through her work as co-chair of Imagining America’s Assessing the Practices of Public Scholarship (APPS) collective and as co-director of the Community-Based Global Learning Collaborative.

Please join me in welcoming Sarah to this new role!

We also want to thank and celebrate Associate Dean Kent Rissmiller, who will begin a phased retirement in July 2025 after 36 years of outstanding service to WPI. Kent began his career in WPI’s Department of Social Science and Policy Studies in September 1988 and was tenured as associate professor in 1994. In 2005, Kent joined the WPI Institutional Review Board (IRB) as a board member, and in 2006 he became the chair, a role he still holds today. In 2006, Kent also took on a new role as associate dean of what was then the Interdisciplinary and Global Studies Division (IGSD). Kent served in this capacity for 10 years, then was appointed dean ad interim of IGSD in 2016. Leading a period of rapid growth in our signature Global Projects Program, he then served as interim dean of The Global School when it was newly launched.  

In 2021, Kent became associate dean of The Global School, where he helped oversee our network of over 50 project centers, which serve more than 1,200 students and engage scores of WPI faculty each year. Under his steady and committed leadership, the Global Projects Program has grown from a program that serves only some students to one that engages over 85% of WPI undergraduates in authentic, project-based learning opportunities in communities close to home and around the world.

Kent has positively impacted generations of WPI faculty, staff, and students through his leadership and contributions as a faculty member and an administrator. It is hard to imagine how the Global Projects Program will continue without Kent at the helm, but we are reassured that he will still be here helping us as we transition the program to the leadership of Dr. Stanlick.

Kent has led the staff of the Global Experience Office, hired scores of advisors, teaching faculty, and adjuncts for WPI’s Global Projects Program; opened new project centers on five continents; spearheaded multiple IQP assessment initiatives; and oversaw the on-campus IQP. In 2012 he became the director of the Washington, D.C., Project Center, WPI’s longest-running center. He also advised projects at project centers in Washington, D.C., London, Costa Rica, Puerto Rico, and Zurich; raised his sons; and still found time to run regularly with WPI’s running club, the Footpounders!

Kent has taught courses in the areas of government, law, and public policy. His research has addressed the restructuring of the electric industry, energy conservation in hospitals, and the Green Communities program in Massachusetts. Kent also directs WPI’s pre-law program and oversees the law and technology minor.  He has long been focused on improving learning outcomes for WPI students and he served six years on WPI’s Undergraduate Outcomes Assessment Committee. In 2010, under Kent’s leadership, WPI’ IRB became registered with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Subjects, and since that time, the board’s service to WPI has greatly expanded, reviewing thousands of applications.

Kent has been a pillar of the WPI ethos and we will continue to draw on his wisdom for years to come! Please join us in celebrating Kent’s career and contributions to WPI in the coming year!