Cro communicates holistic vision for college as she begins tenure as new CAS dean
Tuesday, September 10, 2024
Media Contact: Elizabeth Gosney | CAS Marketing and Communications Manager | 405-744-7497 | egosney@okstate.edu
For as long as she can remember, Dr. Melinda Cro has been surrounded by languages. Not only was she born to multilingual parents — her mother spoke Italian and Spanish, and her Italian-born father was a university language professor — but Cro also attended a French immersion school in Ontario, Canada.
“From kindergarten through seventh grade, every subject except English and shop was done in French,” Cro said. “It was very formative for me, and it hugely impacted how I grew up looking at the world.”
Cro went on to earn her Ph.D. in romance languages from the University of Georgia before gaining more than a decade of university teaching and administrative experience at Kansas State University. In July, she became the newest dean of Oklahoma State University’s College of Arts and Sciences.
“There is strength in diversity of thought and perspective, and that’s what CAS has,” Cro said. “Even though an experience in chemistry is going to be different from an experience in modern languages, we come into the room with shared values.
“I love President [Kayse] Shrum’s focus on ways that the university can leverage its comprehensive resources in a meaningful push toward solving grand challenges because those things are only achievable with the full breadth of the university’s resources, including the ... College of Arts and Sciences. For any challenge we face, the solution will require the collaboration of groups to understand the context and the human impact. When we’re talking about societies and cultures, you need all [CAS areas] to solve the problem.”
This drive for analytic collaboration became particularly evident to Cro while deciding whether to pursue graduate studies in theatre or language, both of which were part of her undergraduate degree at King University in Bristol, Tennessee.
“The thing I really loved about theatre was the directing, the designing and the problem-solving of a production,” Cro said. “But at the end of the day, my first love — of language and communicating, of culture and bringing a world together that is disparate — won out for me.”
After interviewing with several graduate programs, Cro decided on UGA because it allowed her to study two languages — French and Italian — instead of just one.
“It might not have been the wisest choice, but I wanted to be able to spread my wings,” Cro said. “I’ve always been interested in broader preparation rather than really narrow.”
Attending UGA was Cro’s first experience with a land-grant university, where she witnessed outreach and Extension filter into various aspects of her coursework. She experienced a land-grant institution again with her positions at KSU, all of which has culminated in a vision for her new role at OSU.
“When we think of Extension, a lot of times we contextualize that primarily within an ag context,” Cro said. “In truth, while that is and remains an important reality of Extension, there is opportunity to partner in a variety of ways. For me, the true superpower of a land-grant is a college of arts and sciences that’s deeply embedded in and engaging with the community, building on partnerships with Extension offices, for example, to connect communities across the state with our scholars and resources.”
From teaching and program development to building enrollment and collaborating with faculty, staff and leadership, Cro’s breadth of experience stood out to OSU leadership, with Provost Jeanette Mendez supporting Cro’s appointment.
“President Shrum and I are confident we succeeded in identifying the administrator best suited to lead the College of Arts and Sciences as the college aligns its strategic vision with the university’s strategic plan and ensures all faculty, staff, students, alumni and external partners have a voice in the process,” Dr. Mendez said.
Cro recognizes the vast opportunities for growth and unity among CAS’s 24 departments, which include 850 faculty and staff, and nearly 7,000 students. And like puzzling out the nuances of language, she welcomes this type of challenge.
“The beauty of the College of Arts and Sciences is our three pillars: arts and humanities, social sciences, and math and sciences,” said Cro, who is the first female CAS dean to serve in a fulltime, non-interim capacity. “If we stay within our pillar area, you can get depth potentially, but we’re missing out on the transdisciplinary reality of research and problem-solving.
“The big challenges that we face as a society require a multi-pronged approach. If we’re not thinking about the full reality of the human experience as we’re looking at a problem, it will be very difficult to provide a holistic or effective solution. That’s what the landgrant actually is all about: leveraging our strengths and bringing together our expertise in applied, meaningful ways that will help to make a difference in this world for the better. ... We are stronger together than we are apart.”
Click here to watch exclusive content about Dean Cro.
Photo by: Jason Wallace
Story by: Elizabeth Gosney | CONNECT magazine