Office of the Dean
John Contreni
Justin S. Dean Morrill Dean
John Contreni, Justin S. Morrill Dean of the College of Liberal Arts, is the chief academic and administrative officer of the college. He works with the college’s department heads, program directors, faculty, and staff to facilitate and nurture academic excellence at all levels from undergraduate and graduate education to faculty research and creative endeavor. Dean Contreni, who reports directly to the provost, represents the college of Liberal Arts to a variety of constituencies both inside and outside the University. Since joining Purdue’s History Department in 1971, he has taught undergraduate and graduate courses in medieval history and has published widely in the field of Carolingian history and culture. He has served as head of the Department of History (1985-1997) and dean of the Graduate School (2002-2006). A member of the inaugural cohort of faculty members enrolled in Purdue’s Book of Great Teachers (1999), he is also an elected fellow of the Medieval Academy of America (2003).
Tom Berndt
Associate Dean
Tom Berndt coordinates programs of support for faculty research that are administered by the college or that require college review before being forwarded to the University level. He is also responsible for international travel grants and for managing external grant submissions for the college, including grant application processing and cost-sharing commitments. He serves as the college liaison with Sponsored Program Services, the Office of the Vice President for Research, the Office of Governmental Relations, and the Graduate School (for matters involving education, including graduate fellowships). Working with the dean, he monitors space assignments and other space issues. Additionally, Tom is a faculty member in Psychological Sciences, specializing in developmental psychology.
Barbara Dixon
Associate Dean
As associate dean for administration, Barbara Dixon serves as the scholarship coordinator for the college. Additionally, she is a liaison for communication about Liberal Arts, working with personnel from Purdue University News Service and Purdue Marketing Communications to ensure that there are accurate and interesting stories and photos about the CLA faculty, alumni, and students. She also serves as the dean’s representative on the Teacher Education Council, and acts as the coordinator for assessment in the College of Liberal Arts.
Adriela Fernandez
Associate Dean
Adriela Fernandez is associate dean for academic programs. In that capacity she coordinates with faculty, colleagues, and administrators in the planning, organization, promotion and monitoring of academic programs in the College of Liberal Arts. In addition, she oversees the promotion and development of best practices and uses of the web and internet in teaching, research, and outreach—this includes companion websites for all new interdisciplinary courses, new programs' websites, as well as distance learning courses in the college. She also provides assistance to all the college's multicultural recruitment efforts.
Joan Marshall
Senior Associate Dean
Joan Marshall serves as a resource to department heads, faculty, and staff in the college about academic and personnel policies and procedures. She is the college coordinator for affirmative action and the college liaison with other campus offices for diversity. Joan monitors the faculty hiring process and coordinates orientation activities for new faculty. As the contact person for harassment complaints in the college, she is the dean’s office liaison with the Sexual Harassment Advisors’ Network. She provides information and assistance to the College of Liberal Arts Faculty Senate and the standing and ad hoc college and senate committees. She also oversees the four faculty development centers in the college.
JoAnn Miller
Associate Dean
JoAnn Miller oversees the college’s 16 interdisciplinary studies programs: African American Studies, American Studies, Asian American Studies, Asian Studies, Classical Studies, Comparative Literature, Film Studies, Italian Studies, Jewish Studies, Latin American and Latino Studies, Linguistics, Medieval and Renaissance Studies, Peace Studies, Philosophy and Literature, Religious Studies, and Women’s Studies. She administers periodic program reviews, provides budget oversight, and administers graduate fellowships for the interdisciplinary programs. She is also responsible for the Purdue Liberal Arts Community Engagement (PLACE) initiative. PLACE supports two programs. The first, Building Community, brings scholars, students, and community leaders together to examine pressing social issues that are in need of greater understanding. The second, Public Square Forum, sets the stage for discussion about timely concerns or questions by presenting information on and off campus in accessible formats. PLACE invites Purdue faculty to submit proposals for new projects each year. An advisory board makes recommendations to the associate dean to fund and support Building Community and Public Square Forum activities that take place on campus and in the community. JoAnn is a faculty member in Sociology, specializing in Sociology of Law and Social Problems.
David Santogrossi
Associate Dean
David Santogrossi oversees Liberal Arts Student Services, which includes undergraduate student Recruitment, Academic Advising (now including the implementation of Banner, the online registration system), Honors, Diversity, Academic Success, and Career Services, with useful resources for students, parents, and faculty. He helps allocate teaching resources, monitoring enrollment, efficiency, and demand. He also coordinates International Programs and Study Abroad in the college, and chairs the grade appeals board. He has responsibility for undergraduate awards and faculty teaching award selection, and he chairs the college committee for emergency preparedness. As a member of the Psychological Sciences faculty, he is a Murphy teaching award winner, a founding member of the Teaching Academy, and an inaugural listing in the Purdue Book of Great Teachers.
Mona Holdcraft
Director of Financial Affairs
Mona Holdcraft is the Director of Financial Affairs for Liberal Arts. The role of the business office is to serve as the liaison between the academic areas and the central offices – e.g., purchasing, payroll, accounting, personnel, sponsored program services, staff benefits, etc. In this role, we provide information and assistance to departments in the interpretation and execution of University, federal, state, and sponsoring-agency financial policies, regulations, and procedures. We provide account management, payroll, purchasing, property management, and other services; maintain various systems and procedures; and assure the appropriate financial and budgetary accountability for all fiscal activities of the college.
There are eleven separate business offices throughout the College of Liberal Arts, which are staffed by the director of financial affairs, the assistant director, four departmental business managers, and 21 account clerks. These individuals provide business services and financial administration for the Liberal Arts deans, department heads, faculty, and staff.
LuAnn Keyton
Director of Information Technology
As director of information technology for the College of Liberal Arts, LuAnn Keyton oversees the services provided, identifies resources, determines strategic directions, and develops and interprets policies. She works closely with the deans, department heads, and individuals in other campus technology organizations to discuss issues that either impact or are affected by information technology. The College of Liberal Arts Office of Information Technology, or CLA IT, is one of Purdue's "distributed IT" groups. We are proud to collaborate with ITaP and other campus IT organizations. CLA IT staff provide support to faculty and staff in departments and units throughout the college.
The Office of Information Technology promotes and supports the use of information technology in all areas of the college—research, instruction, and administration—so that faculty, students, and staff can teach, learn, work, and produce more effectively. We help support the use of technology on your desktop, in labs, and elsewhere. We identify and support applications and systems for your needs and explore new technologies that will meet future needs. Specific services provided by this office include: network infrastructure administration and development; consultation for purchases; support of instructional computing and administration of instructional computing labs. Liberal Arts faculty and staff may request CLA IT support services by sending e-mail to ithelp@purdue.edu or calling our service desk at 6-6333.
Tom Recker
Director of Advancement
Tom Recker is the director of advancement, and Lori Sparger and Erin Bittinger are directors of development for the College of Liberal Arts. The generous support of our alumni and friends is critical to providing top-notch faculty, facilities, scholarships, and programs to our undergraduate and graduate students, and enhances the Purdue experience.
The development team is responsible for raising funds from alumni, friends, and organizations in support of the college, its faculty, departments, and programs. The team focuses primarily on cultivating major gift prospects, and works with the central University Development Office on other development efforts, including direct mail appeals, telemarketing, and corporate and foundation relations.
Lori Sparger
Director of Development
We are also here to be our faculty's advocate, and try to help departments identify funding sources for specific needs and develop proposals for submission. In addition, we seek to identify alumni who are interested in supporting particular programs or want to learn more about department initiatives.
Erin Bittinger
Director of Development
The college's development office is also responsible for alumni relations, hosting several events on campus, and participating in University-wide events around the country. The college’s alumni board is actively involved in these events as well as the Distinguished Alumni Awards and Outstanding Seniors Banquet.
Contact Us
College of Liberal Arts
100 N. University Street
West Lafayette, IN 47907-2067 USA
Phone 765-494-3663
Fax 765-494-3660