DARCY A.

ZABEL
1936 W. University Avenue ⧇ Wichita, Kansas ⧇ 67213 ⧇ (316) 721-2285⧇ dzabel@friends.edu

March 8, 2015
New Mexico Highlands University
Presidential Search
R.H. Perry & Associates

Dear Search Committee,

Please accept this as my letter of application for the position of President at New Mexico
Highlands University.

Currently I am serving as the Interim President of Friends University, an independent private

Quaker-heritage regional university in Wichita, Kansas. Previously, I served at Friends
University as the Vice President for Academic Affairs, Associate Vice President for Academic
Affairs, and as a tenured member of the teaching faculty and taught TESOL, World Literature in
Translation, Writing, and Indian Literature and Film.

Prior to Friends University, I worked with the University of Connecticut’s TRIO programs for
six years as a tutor, a teacher and administrative coordinator. I have also served as an
accreditation liaison with the Higher Learning Commission and as a peer reviewer for
institutional accreditation. With over 20 years of combined teaching and administrative
experience in higher education, at both a state research university with an elected board and a
private liberal arts and professional studies university with a volunteer board, I believe that I
could aptly advance New Mexico Highlands University’s brand of higher education. With so
many changes in how public education is funded, experiences at private tuition-driven,
enrollment sensitive institutions have become relevant for public colleges and universities as
they search for additional revenue streams from fundraising and program innovations.
st
Founded in 1898 with a first class of less than 20 students, by the start of the 21 century,
Friends University had grown to 3,000 students. The University strategically restructured in 2005
into three colleges and now maintains a total student population of approximately 2,000 with
specialized accreditations for graduate programs in Marriage and Family Therapy, graduate and
undergraduate programs in Education, undergraduate programs in Music, and undergraduate
professional studies programs. The University continues to offer a residential traditional
undergraduate liberal arts experience for 50% of its students and through its College of Adult
and Professional Studies, a low-residency (with the option of fully online) adult and professional
studies undergraduate programs, and a dozen graduate programs such as Masters degrees in
Marriage and Family Therapy, the Masters of Arts and Teaching, an MBA with several emphasis
tracks such as Global Studies, Organizational Development, and Accounting, a Masters of
Healthcare Leadership, and a Masters in Information Security.

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All three academic colleges focus on applied learning with required internships, practicums,
service learning experiences and for two of the graduate programs and two of the undergraduate
programs, a class-based faculty-led short-term study abroad experience as part of the degree
requirements. Students, many of whom are first-generation college students and many who had
never been outside the country before, have completed Global MBA practicums in China and
Bolivia and our MSOD graduate students have consulted in Ghana and the United Kingdom as
part of their programs. At the undergraduate level, each year our Spanish majors spend a month
in Mexico while our pre-med/Health Sciences students, most recently, completed their service
abroad course in Cuba. Our faculty who have led these courses have presented, nationally, on
these experiences which has helped to increase the university’s local, regional, and national
profile and to communicate market the university’s mission. Because of this emphasis on
“Education Beyond a Textbook” our faculty also support student research by collaborating with
undergraduate students on research projects. In fact, just this week, faculty members have
returned from state and national conferences where they have co-presented with undergraduate
students. Graduates have also shared with us how transformative these experiences have been
and how valuable the experience as something that sets them apart from other graduates when
competing for post-graduate work or graduate school enrollment, and our faculty and staff
indicate that they are rejuvenated by out-of-the-classroom research opportunities and these short-
term intensive study-abroad experiences because they can see, every day, how the work they do
changes lives. In terms of students, our largest source of financial aid comes through Pell Grants.
We have augmented this financial aid with scholarships from private donors committed to our
mission.

One of the aspects of Friends University that I am most proud of is the way in which we serve
real people in our region. We have partnered with the Pottawatomie Nation to provided college
adult education and professional studies at their Educational Center so that tribal elders can audit
classes such as our introduction to computers classes and those interested in pursuing degrees
can pursue bachelors degrees without leaving the reservation. We have also partnered with the
Mountain Plains Minority Council to provide small business education workshops and graduate
credit programming, as well as access to the resources of our Garvey Institute for Business Law.

As the interim President of Friends University in Wichita, Kansas (through June 2015), I have
been authorized by the Board of Trustees to act with all the powers and authority of president
and because of my 17 years of experience at Friends University, I have been able to use this time
to make important progress in strategic ways. I moved up through the faculty and administrative
ranks as a Division Vice Chair, Director of the Honors Program, Associate Vice President for
Academic Affairs and Vice President for Academic Affairs. I am also a tenured professor of
English and have continued to teach one course a year. I have 15+ years of strong academic and
administrative leadership. Having served as a member of President’s Cabinet and senior
leadership at Friends University, and now as the interim President, I have developed and
demonstrated a record of building consensus, resolving conflict, addressing personnel and
student issues with sensitivity and fairness, and have a demonstrated record of effective financial
management. My charge from the Board of Trustees, following the resignation of a president

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midway through his third year, was to transition the university back to fiscal health, renew the
community’s understanding of the institution’s heritage and mission, and transition the college to
more responsive academic model, one that involved helping the institution get a better
understanding of what it means to be a regional university and to serve not only the long-term
transformative needs of individual people, but also the immediate economic and human needs of
the region.

To accomplish these goals, I have expanded what was a very small president’s cabinet comprised
almost entirely of vice presidents to include a larger number of stakeholders and constituents so
that faculty and staff have a greater voice in “how” these Board of Trustee’s goals will be
operationalized. I work closely with both the Chair of the Faculty Senate and the Chair of the
Staff Senate to ensure that enterprise-wide communication occurs each week so that all 300 of
the college employees understand the valuable ways in which their service helps the university
accomplish its goals and serve its mission. I also write a weekly newsletter that goes out to all
faculty and staff and to our volunteer Board of Trustees called “Just the Facts Friday” that
weekly addresses enrollment management (recruitment and retention), and weekly celebrates and
highlights the work of faculty and staff, and the success of current students and alumni, so that
the true mission of the college (student success) is always in our minds.

Having reviewed the position qualifications prospectus, I believe that I could serve New Mexico
Highlands University well. I think my leadership style and my experiences with accreditation,
program prioritization and resource reallocation, budgeting, faculty and staff development,
strategic planning, enrollment management and fundraising and commitment to personal life-
long learning and continuing professional development would make me a good fit for the
institution. I also have extensive experience with online education, with outreach and transfer
and articulation relationships, and in development of high school academy enrollment pipelines
through innovative dual credit partnerships. Having served as the interim president of Friends
University, I have also had the opportunity to enhance my fundraising skills and success in
working with state and regional stakeholders as a member of the KCAC Presidents, the Kansas
Independent College Association, the Wichita Chamber of Commerce, the Wichita Leadership
Council, the Business and Education Alliance, and through involvement with local boards and
service organizations such as Rotary.

I look forward to hearing from you about the possibility of serving New Mexico Highlands
University.

Best wishes,

Darcy A. Zabel

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 Darcy A. Zabel

PROFESSIONAL EDUCATION

Harvard University, 2014

Graduate School of Education
Institute for New Presidents
Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138

EDUCATION

PhD, English, 2001

University of Connecticut
Storrs, Connecticut 06269
Doctoral Dissertation— “Two Trains Running”: The Train as Symbol in Twentieth-Century
African American Literature

MA, English, 1994

University of Connecticut
Storrs, Connecticut 06269

Bachelor of Arts, 1990

Major: English Minor: Religion
Mount Holyoke College for Women
South Hadley, Massachusetts 01075

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

Summary: Experience with academic governance, accreditation, budget development,

budget management, academic cabinets, faculty senates, staff assemblies, president’s
cabinet, donor relations, alumni relations, academic support services, student affairs,
enrollment management,fundraising, marketing and branding, strategic planning and
implementation.

Interim President of Friends University— March 2014- June 2015

Friends University, Wichita, Kansas

Vice President for Academic Affairs

Friends University⦁Wichita, Kansas
Served as Interim VPAA 2011-2012 and 2012-2013 during a Presidential transition.
Interim status changed to permanent VPAA June 2013

Accomplishments:

Authored the application for acceptance into the John Gardner Institute’s national
cohort Foundations of Excellence: The First Year Experience and launched the
institution’s participation in the project.

Led the institution’s successful re-affirmation of accreditation on-site visit and
served as chief author of the institution’s self-study/institutional portfolio/federal
compliance documents.

Collaborated with the Faculty Senate to update and revise the Faculty Constitution and the
Faculty Handbook.

Integrated the newly created Staff Assembly into the AQIP Continuous Improvement
process of engagement.

Initiated a review of General Education Assessment resulting in a revised General
Education assessment plan shared by both the traditional undergraduate college
and the adult undergraduate college.

Initiated a new partnership with the Human Resources department that included
development of a new position to support adjunct faculty recruitment, orientation,
training, and ongoing adjunct faculty development.

Expanded Graduate School Workshop (non-credit) offerings to fund program expansion and
development.

Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs— 2009,

2010 Friends University⦁Wichita, Kansas

Accomplishments:
 Initiated assessment and program review of academic support services:
Library, Tutoring, Retention, Assessment, Online Learning and Academic
Technology, University Registrar, offsite Education Centers.
 Collaborated with faculty to revise International Travel and Study Abroad approval process
and policies.

 Collaborated with directors of specialized programs for successful program

re-accreditations and revised budgeting process for managing the accreditation
budgets for programs with specialized accreditation.

Honors Program Director— 2008

Friends University⦁Wichita, Kansas

Accomplishments:

Conducted a year-long self-study as part of the Strategic Planning Task Force assigned to
study the institution’s current Honors Program.

Initiated and completed a curriculum revision emphasizing “honor in action” and applied
learning.

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Vice Chair for the Religion and Humanities Division— 2002-
2007 Friends University⦁Wichita, Kansas

Accomplishments:
 Creation of a discipline specific protocol for mentoring adjunct instructors teaching in the
first-year writing courses.
 Creation of a TESOL (Teaching English for Speakers of Other Languages) course to be cross-
listed between the English department and the Education department.

Summer TRIO Programs — 1992-1998 The

Center for Academic Programs Summer
English Coordinator, Teacher & Tutor
University of Connecticut⦁Storrs, CT

Accomplishments:

Moved tutoring to the residence halls which increased use of tutoring by first-generation
students.

Designed and produced a “literary magazine” celebrating the summer writing by first-
generation students.

Initiated staffing changes which resulted in substantial savings. This allowed for strategic
resource reallocation and the hiring of additional tutors.

TEACHING EXPERIENCE

Professor of English (Tenured)— 1998-

present Friends University, Wichita, Kansas
Teaching Areas: American Literature, World Literature (online and on-ground),
TESOL, Creative Writing, Composition (online and on-ground), Women’s History
and Literature, Indian Literature and Film, Contemporary Literature, The Search for
Meaning in a Changing World, Freshman Seminar, and Honors Seminar.

Instructor — Summers, 1992-1998

University of Connecticut’s TRIO SSS/CAPS program
Teaching Areas: ESOL, Developmental English, computer-assisted college writing.

ACADEMIC AWARDS

⧉ Phi Beta Kappa, 1990

⧉ Aetna Teaching Award Finalist, 1995

⧉ Sigma Tau Delta, 2001

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⧉ Friends University Research Grant, 2003

⧉ The Rotary Foundation of Rotary International Group Study Exchange Team Member,
Host District 31705, India, 2003-2004

⧉“Certificate of Outstanding Teaching,” 2005. Friends University Kansas National

Education Association Student Chapter, Friends University

⧉ Sabbatical, Friends University, 2006

⧉ Alpha Sigma Lambda, 2013

PUBLICATIONS (Selected Samples)

Books

Zabel, Darcy, Ed., Arabs in the Americas: Interdisciplinary Essays on the Arab Diaspora.
Peter Lang Publishing, Inc., 2006.

Zabel, Darcy. The “Underground” Railroad in African American Literature. Book series,
African American Literature and Culture: Expanding and Exploding the Boundaries.
Series Editor: Dr. Carlyle Van Thompson. Peter Lang Publishing, Inc., 2004.

Reviews

Zabel, Darcy. “R. J. M. Blackett’s Freedom: The Underground Railroad and the Politics of
Slavery” (UNC Press) in The Journal of American Studies (Cambridge University
Press). Forthcoming, 2014.

Zabel, Darcy. “Arabs in America: Building a New Future,” in MELUS: The Journal for the
Society for the Study of the Multi-Ethnic Literature of the United States. Special Issue:
Arab American Literature. (Winter, 2006).

Articles/Entries

Zabel, Darcy. “Mary Wollstonecraft: Influences on American Women” in Women's Rights in

the United States: A Comprehensive Encyclopedia of Issues, Events, and People Ed.,
Tiffany Wayne. Greenwood Publishing/ACB-CLIO, forthcoming, September 2014.

Zabel, Darcy. “Shareefeh Hamid Ali: East and West in Cooperation” in Feminist Writings
from Ancient Times to the Modern World: A Global Sourcebook and History. Ed.,
Tiffany K. Wayne. Greenwood Publishing/ABC-CLIO, 2011.

Zabel, Darcy. “African American Science Fiction” in The Greenwood Encyclopedia of

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 Multiethnic American Literature. Ed. Emmanuel S. Nelson. Greenwood Publishing:
2006.

Zabel, Darcy. “Amiri Baraka” in African American Dramatists: An A to Z Guide. Ed.,

Emmanuel S. Nelson. Greenwood Press, 2004.

Zabel, Darcy. “Robert O’Hara” in Contemporary American Gay Poets and Playwrights. Ed.
Emmanuel S. Nelson. Greenwood Press, 2003.

Zabel, Darcy. “Ghost-story train”: Robert Hayden’s “Runagate Runagate,” in The Explicator.
Volume 60, Number 2 (Winter 2002).

CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS (Selected Samples)

“Quantifying Culture: Education Beyond a Textbook and Assessing Student Learning,”

rd
presented at the 23 Annual Lilly Conference on College and University
Teaching. California: March 11-12, 2011.

“Higher Education Practices in the Unites States.” Rotary International Conference District
#3170, India. GSE Exchange speaking engagements in Mapusa, Sirsi, Dharwad,
Bagalkot, Bijapur, Snagli, Kolhapur, Sankeshwar, Belgaum, Panji, and Margoa. India:
January 4-February 4, 2004.

“ ‘Too strong for beke’: The Feminist Critical Response to Jean Rhys’s Wide Sargasso Sea,
th
1966 to the Present,” at the 118 Modern Language Association Annual
Convention, New York: 2002.

th
“ ‘A Continuing Education’: Fit and the Small College English Department,” at the 116
Modern Language Association Annual Convention, Washington DC: 2000.

CONTINUING PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT (Selected Samples)

Higher Learning Commission Peer Reviewer Training. January 2013. Trained to serve as
a systems portfolio reaccreditation team reviewer for the AQIP pathway of the
Higher Learning Commission.

Academic Affairs and Student Affairs Leaders’ Institute Training. November 2012.
Trained for “Partnerships for Promising Practices in Student Success.” The John
Gardner Institute.

“Five Ways to Increase Interaction in Your Online Classes.” Online training as part of the
MagnaOnline Professional Development Interactive Webinar Series. April 2011.

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Creating the Climate for Continuous Improvement,” Training at the AQIP Strategy Forum for
Academic Quality Improvement in Programs. Sponsored by the Higher Learning
Commission and AQIP. February 2010.

SERVICE TO THE PROFESSION (Selected Samples)

Elected Vice President of KAQIP, the Kansas Association of AQIP institutions.

Representatives from two- and four-year colleges and universities in Kansas meet twice
per calendar year to collaborate for the purpose of continuous quality academic
improvement at each member institution (2013).

Served as a Higher Learning Commission Accreditation AQIP Systems Portfolio Peer

Reviewer Team Member. Peer reviewers are charged with the task of reading institutional
portfolios to affirm institutions’ fulfillment of the Criteria for Accreditation and Federal
Compliance (2013).

SERVICE TO THE COMMUNITY (Selected Samples)

Wichita Chamber of Commerce, Leadership Council

Wichita Business & Education Alliance

Wichita Friends School, Board of Trustees

Rotary Club of Wichita (Club#30)

Salvation Army Volunteer

ADDITIONAL WORK EXPERIENCE

Assistant Acquisitions and Development Editor, Garland Publishing, 1991

270 Madison Avenue
New York, New York

Editorial Assistant, College Acquisitions Division, St. Martin’s Press, 1990

175 Fifth Avenue
New York, New York

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