Henry Ford College welcomes new dean of the School of Liberal Arts

Late in January of this year, Henry Ford College welcomed Dr. Brad Romans as the new dean of the School of Liberal Arts. The dean of the School of Liberal Arts reports directly to the Vice President of Academic Affairs, Dr. Michael Nealon.

Preceding Dr. Romans was Interim Dean Robert Yahrmatter, who has since returned to his previous position as the associate dean of the School of Liberal Arts. Henry Ford College’s President Russell Kavalhuna noted the school’s gratitude to Yahrmatter, and his predecessor, Interim Dean Larry Smyrski, who provided great leadership to the School of Liberal Arts for the past two years. The school also noted its gratitude for Pamela Stewart who filled in as Interim Associate Dean in Yahrmatter’s place. 

Romans was quoted in an article by Press & Guide about his new position at Henry Ford College: “The student population here at HFC is very diverse, which resonated with me. The faculty are impressive and accomplished. Our common goal is reaching our students and helping them achieve the next step in their lives. Many students who attend the College are first-generation college students. I can relate to that, being a first-generation college student myself.”

Dr. Eric Rader, a political science instructor at Henry Ford College, spoke on Dr. Romans’ appointment as well, saying, “As Local 1650 President and a faculty member in SOLA, I welcome Dr. Romans to HFC. Our incredible faculty are ready to work with him to help our students succeed.”

Dr. Romans was born in Southfield, Michigan as the oldest of two boys. He graduated high school from Pinckney High School, and is a two time alumnus of Eastern Michigan University. Dr. Romans earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in literature at EMU. He then went on to earn his PhD in English from the University of Buffalo in New York. He also completed his training as a New Leadership Academy Fellow at the University of Michigan National Forum for Public Good in Ann Arbor. He currently lives with his family in Dexter.

He went on to talk about his impetus for getting into the field of higher education, saying, “As a student, I loved watching professors at the front of the classroom pouring out knowledge, wisdom, and information to me and other students. I found it incredibly intoxicating.”

Dr. Romans has taught at Eastern Michigan University and Buffalo, among others. His classes have covered topics like creative writing, English composition, special topics courses in literature, ethnography, and mass culture and the media. He has been a speaker at both state and national conferences. He has worked in higher education since 2008, and has been in college administration since 2015.

He spoke on his motivation to get into administration, saying, “Going into administration was the opportunity to more broadly impact policy to help students and make the path to graduation smoother for them.”

Previous to Henry Ford College, Dr. Romans was at Baker College, where he served in several administrative leadership positions. He was a Director of Academic Affairs at the Allen Park and Jackson campuses, and he was also the online director at the Flint campus. Before coming to Henry Ford College, Dr. Romans was the Campus Director for both the Allen Park and Jackson campuses. 

At these positions, Dr. Romans led his teams at Baker College through strategic and operational planning for improvement of student success, community partnerships and outreach, academic and scholarly programming, cohort based peer mentoring, budget development, student life, service learning, and more. He worked for a time to co-author Baker’s accreditation self studies at the two campuses and at the college level, earning accreditation from the Higher Learning Commission. He also worked to secure grants totalling over $2 million to support efforts regarding undergraduate and faculty research.

“A first-generation college student himself, Brad whole-heartedly embraces the goals and priorities aligned with HFC’s current Strategic Plan and its focus on student success. In his own words, Brad shares: ‘The central focus of my work is to collaborate with faculty on raising our shared level of discourse in ways that are clear, accessible, and that result in greater opportunity for students,’” said Nealon.

Dr. Romans spoke about his vision for the future of Henry Ford College, saying, “I love everything we have to offer in SOLA, whether it’s fine arts, literature, sociology, mass media, ceramics, theatre, psychology, the list goes on. I want students to have access to their expert faculty in these subjects, and for SOLA to become the preeminent spot for students to build their futures and communities. The goal here is for them to be able to build better telescopes to see the directions in which they’re headed. To me, that’s a dream come true.”