May 10, 2010
Freeburg named Workforce Education chair
CARBONDALE, Ill. -- Elizabeth “Beth” W. Freeburg, associate professor in the College of Education and Human Services’ Department of Workforce Education at Southern Illinois University Carbondale, was named chair of that department effective April 8. She had been serving in an interim capacity since June 2009, when former chair C. Keith Waugh returned to full-time teaching.
“After a national search, we chose Beth Freeburg to be chair because we recognized that we already had in place what we were looking for: someone who is recognized as a scholar and a hardworking and collaborative colleague, who also has excellent administrative skills and a passionate regard for what the department is and can become,” said Dean Kenneth Teitelbaum. “It’s a complex department that will continue to serve well the needs of its many students and school and community partners under Beth’s insightful leadership.”
As chair, Freeburg will coordinate the department’s overall teaching, curriculum development, research and creative activities; service programs; faculty recruitment, hiring, orientation, professional development and evaluation activities; as well as upperclass and graduate student recruitment, student advisement and grievances. In addition, she will oversee both the budget and office management.
Freeburg said her goals for the department come from a strategic study undertaken by the faculty and include refining the curriculum, increasing the array of student services offered, providing professional development opportunities and fostering diversity, communication, productivity and collaboration.
Before taking the chair position, Freeburg directed her department’s graduate programs. Her professional memberships include the American Association of Family and Consumer Sciences, the Association for Career and Technical Education Research, and the Illinois University Council for Career and Technical Education.
Freeburg joined the faculty as an adjunct in 1995 and was appointed as an associate professor 10 years later. She also served as site coordinator for the department’s off-campus degree program at Scott Air Force Base and has additional experience as a human resources consultant and adult vocational instructor.
Freeburg earned her bachelor’s degree in 1973 from Agnes Scott College in Decatur, Ga., her master’s in 1975 from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in Blacksburg, Va., and her doctorate in 1994 from SIUC. She grew up in Princeton, W. Va.