After 23 years at West Virginia University, Cheryl Torsney, associate provost for academic programs and professor of English, has accepted a position as Hiram (Ohio) Colleges vice president for academic affairs and dean of the college, effective June 1, 2009.

She has served as associate provost at WVU for more than five years.

This opportunity to return to my liberal arts roots was too good to pass up,said Torsney, a 1977 graduate of Allegheny College, a liberal arts institution in Meadville, Pa., where she majored in English and French.

West Virginia University has given me every opportunity to grow intellectually, to teach wonderful students and to cut my administrative teeth,she said.The support and encouragement I have received over the years have been marvelous.

My sons were both born and raised in Morgantown, and I have many close friends here. It will always be home in many ways,Torsney added.

As associate provost at WVU , she was active in academic programming, assessment and retention. She was also involved in the Higher Learning Commissions reaccreditation of WVU in 2004 and the Foundations of Excellence in the First College Year project.

I want to wish Cheryl well,interim Provost Jane Martin said.She has been an important member of the Provosts Office for five and a half years, and I know Cheryl will be missed by the University community.

With the upcoming departure of Torsney, Martin said an internal search for the position of assistant vice president for undergraduate education will begin immediately. C.B. Wilson, associate provost for academic personnel, is chairing the screening committee.

Martin said the assistant vice president will report directly to the provost and has primary responsibility for the institutions undergraduate curricular and instructional initiatives.

The individual will provide innovative and dynamic leadership to the Universitys undergraduate academic programs and modes of instruction; lead the institutions Student Learning Outcomes Assessment Program; supervise the Undergraduate Academic Services Center, University Honors College, Center for Civic Engagement and Military Science and Aerospace Studies; oversee the Board of Governors program reviews and the preparation of the content of the undergraduate catalog; and lead development and implementation of student retention efforts undertaken by academic units.

The position is open to tenured faculty at WVU . A position announcement is posted online at http://www.wvu.edu/~acadaff/ . Review of applications will begin Dec. 1, Martin said, with the appointment expected to take effect June 1.