Kalamazoo College President Wilson-Oyelaran will take a sabbatical during the upcoming 2014 winter quarter from early January through late March.

It will be her first sabbatical since becoming president of the College in July 2005.

“I’m very grateful for the sabbatical opportunity granted me by the board of trustees,” said Wilson-Oyelaran. “Typical of faculty and presidential sabbaticals, however, my time away will not all be time off. The sabbatical provides a much needed opportunity to catch up on reading and thinking. I am particularly interested in the impact that innovations in technology will have on teaching and learning and what that might mean for K.”

During the sabbatical Wilson-Oyelaran will travel to Thailand and Singapore. While in Singapore, she will visit with alumni and meet with prospective students at several international high schools. In Thailand, she will visit the Kalamazoo College study abroad program in Chang Mei where she will meet with program directors and K students to assess firsthand the facilities, program offerings, and student experiences. She will also accompany K students as they carry out their Integrative Cultural Projects, a key component of their study abroad experiences that might include a teaching assignment, internship, performance, civic engagement opportunity, or other immersive hands-on learning activity that reflects their academic, career, or extracurricular interests.

She will also deliver the 2014 Casanova Lecture at Claremont Graduate University School of Educational Studies in Claremont, California where she earned her M.A. and Ph.D. degrees.

During the sabbatical, Wilson-Oyelaran will continue to focus on her duties as President of the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities (NAICU), a year-long post she assumed in February 2013. NAICU represents more than 1,000 private nonprofit institutions of higher learning (including K) on policy issues with the federal and state governments, such as those affecting student aid, access, and government regulation.

President Wilson-Oyelaran will return to the K campus for the 2014 spring quarter that begins Monday March 31.

In her absence, Kalamazoo College Provost Michael “Mickey” McDonald will serve as acting president, and Dow Distinguished Professor in the Natural Sciences Jan Tobochnik will serve as acting provost, a role he filled for nearly a year before McDonald was hired in 2008.