May 31, 2024
Shawnee State University’s Office of the President has announced Dr. Michael Barnhart will serve as the university’s Interim Dean of the College of Arts & Sciences effective May 17. Joining SSU in 2003, Dr. Barnhart most recently served as the Chairperson of the Department of Fine, Digital & Performing Arts.
“Dr. Barnhart is deeply committed to the arts and humanities, with an understanding of how valuable critical thinking, creativity, and communication are to the workforce of the future,” SSU President Eric Andrew Braun said.
During his time at SSU, Dr. Barnhart has served as chair of several committees including the General Education Advisory Committee, Educational Policies & Curriculum Committee, and the Distance Learning Committee. He is a past Vice President of the University Faculty Senate, was a previous director of the Summer Bridge to Success program, and served as the Director of the General Education Program. In 2022, he was appointed as the Chairperson of the Fine, Digital & Performing Arts department and was selected to serve on the President’s Council in 2023.
“I have enjoyed the privilege of teaching in the College of Arts & Sciences over the past twenty years,” said Dr. Barnhart. “I look forward to this chance to advocate for our fine programs and support our shared mission.”
Dr. Barnhart earned a doctorate of Musical Arts in composition and computer music from the University of Cincinnati’s College-Conservatory of Music. He has served as a peer reviewer for the interdisciplinary journal Cogent OA: Arts & Humanities. He also developed the Center for Creative Audio to support SSU’s minor in Sound Design. He was a member of the Worldfest Committee in partnership with the university’s Vern Riffe Center for the Arts that saw funding awarded by Arts Midwest to support six week-long residencies in Portsmouth, Ohio for international musical artists spread over a three-year period beginning in 2022. He also served as a representative to the Ohio Faculty Council for the Ohio Department of Higher Education for five years.
To learn more about the College of Arts & Sciences at Shawnee State University, visit shawnee.edu/cas.