New Associate Deans at RIT Croatia

{image}
The beginning of the new academic year was marked with appointment of two Associate Deans at RIT Croatia: Dr. Irena Guszak Cerovečki and Dr. Francis Brassard. Dr. Guszak Cerovečki is in charge of all programs of study and the Zagreb campus, while Dr. Brassard supervises the Dubrovnik campus and general education - that is, courses in humanities, natural and social sciences that are an integral part of American education. Along with President and Dean Don Hudspeth, the duo will lead RIT Croatia towards the achievement of the strategic plan objectives, including maintaining and further development of academic and research excellence. This is fully in line with the high quality of RIT which has recently been recognized as one of the top 100 universities in the U.S., according to the renowned U.S. News & World Report rankings (the National Universities category). This has put RIT in the group with the universities such as Harvard, Princeton, Stanford, Yale and MIT.

"I feel privileged as well as excited to be able to serve as an Associate Dean at RIT Croatia", says Dr. Guszak Cerovečki who joined RIT Croatia during the academic year 2013 - 2014 as a marketing courses lecturer in the International Business program. In 2014 she was appointed the program's Area Head. She graduated from the Faculty of Economics and Business at the University of Zagreb where she spent 7 years working in teaching and science. In addition to this, Irena has a relevant professional experience in sales and marketing. She obtained her B.S. Degree from the Faculty of Economics, then completed her MBA study and obtained a Doctorate in the field of social sciences, business economics. She took part in faculty and research exchange at Leeds Metropolitan University in the UK and held numerous guest lectures at the Trident Technical College in South Carolina, USA. Her work has been published in relevant domestic and international publications.

"I am confident that the strong RIT Croatia team, with a close relationship with other RIT campuses, will continue to provide a relevant and great learning experience to all of our students. I would like to offer more opportunities for students through an Honors program and work with faculty on increasing our research portfolio.", Dr. Guszak Cerovečki

"I too feel honored to have been given the responsibility of Assistant Dean at RIT", says Dr. Brassard who started his work for RIT Croatia during the academic year 2011 - 2012. He worked as an Associate Professor at the Japanese Miyazaki International College for almost a decade (2001 - 2010) and has lectured at Berry College, Mount Berry, Georgia, USA and at the University of Dubrovnik. He earned his B.A., Joint Honours, in German and French Literature at the Canadian McGill University where he obtained a Doctorate in the field of Religious Studies. Francis was furthering and developing his education in India, the UK and in Germany where he studied Buddhism and Hindu philosophy for two years, learning classical Tibetan, Buddhist Chinese, Sanskrit and Pali. Francis also has an extensive list of publications, including book reviews, and conference papers and presentations.

"My main task will be to foster more integration between the various campuses of RIT by promoting the study abroad opportunities among the students and joint projects between faculty members.", Dr. Brassard