Ohio Wesleyan University Appoints Director of Service Learning
Sally Leber
DELAWARE, OHIO – Ohio Wesleyan University today announced the appointment of Sally Leber as director of service learning, a position she has filled on an interim basis since June 2011.
Leber joined the Ohio Wesleyan staff in 1994, and since that time has served as director of The Columbus Initiative, an innovative tutoring and mentoring program linking university students with inner-city youth. In her new role, she will oversee Ohio Wesleyan’s Office of Service Learning and report to Craig Ullom, Ed.D., vice president for student affairs.
“Sally Leber brings a passion for service and a deep knowledge of experiential education to this important role,” said university President Rock Jones, Ph.D. “She will ensure that Ohio Wesleyan remains a leader and an innovator in service learning in a local, national, and global context.”
During Leber’s 18 years at Ohio Wesleyan, she also has enriched the campus by serving as a team member of the HaitiOWU Initiative, which provides continuing assistance to Pwoje Espwa, a Haitian orphanage; director of the OWU LAB (Leadership Across Boundaries) program, which promotes sustained excellence in multicultural leadership education; and an adviser for the Ghana Student Education Fund, Rafiki Wa Afrika, and the C.O.W. (Citizens of the World) House, a themed living unit for students with a special interest in issues of cultural diversity. Leber also was the recipient of the 2008 university President’s Commission on Racial and Cultural Diversity Faculty/Staff Award.
Leber is a lifelong educator especially committed to work within the urban environment. She was a member of the original design team for The Graham School, an experiential education high school in Columbus, Ohio, and is president of its board of trustees. She also is the former board president for The Charles School, a five-year early college high school in Columbus that enables high school students to obtain up to 62 hours of college credit while completing a five-year high school program.
Leber has written curriculum for educational publishers on reading and writing instruction, as well as programs designed to help students work through issues creating roadblocks to success.
Ohio Wesleyan’s Office of Service Learning is committed to continuing the strong tradition of service learning at Ohio Wesleyan: helping students and student groups design individualized service experiences that enhance classroom learning, expand worldviews, and advance personal growth; maintaining partnerships between the campus and the Delaware/Columbus communities; providing domestic and international service-learning opportunities for Ohio Wesleyan students and graduates; and promoting best practices in experiential education. Sue Pasters served as director of community service learning from 1989 until her retirement last year.
Ohio Wesleyan students traditionally perform more than 40,000 hours of community service each academic year. In March, the university’s strong commitment to service was recognized when, for the fourth consecutive year, Ohio Wesleyan was named to the President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll with Distinction. In 2009, Ohio Wesleyan also was selected as one of three colleges and universities nationwide to earn a Presidential Award for Excellence in General Community Service.
Ohio Wesleyan University is one of the nation’s premier small, private universities, with more than 90 undergraduate majors, sequences, and courses of study, and 23 NCAA Division III varsity sports. Located in Delaware, Ohio, just minutes north of Ohio’s capital and largest city, Columbus, the university combines a globally focused curriculum with off-campus learning and leadership opportunities that translate classroom theory into real-world practice. OWU’s close-knit community of 1,850 students represents 47 states and 57 countries. Ohio Wesleyan was named to the 2012 President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll with distinction, is featured in the book “Colleges That Change Lives,” and is included on the “best colleges” lists of U.S. News & World Report and The Princeton Review. Learn more at www.owu.edu.