KAMLOOPS – Thompson Rivers University has appointed an executive with broad education and business experience as its first Vice-President, Open Learning.
Judith Murray will join TRU from the University of Dubuque in Iowa, where she was special assistant to the president for new business development. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Dalhousie University and a Master of Arts degree from Mount Saint Vincent University, and has more than 20 years of education management experience.
“TRU is very pleased to have attracted such a high-calibre executive to lead our open learning division,” said TRU President Roger Barnsley.
“Ms. Murray’s extensive experience, coupled with her ability to meet new challenges and create viable, leading-edge enterprises, will help TRU to become a global leader in distance and on-line education.”
Murray comes to TRU with 13 years of experience in the public post-secondary sector where she specialized in strategic planning, institutional management, policy formulation, government relations, labour relations, institutional analysis and problem solving. During this time, she held a number of ex officio posts, including membership on the Nova Scotia Council on Higher Education and the Maritime Provinces Higher Education Commission.
In 1998, she left the public education sector to join a publicly traded, for-profit, education company offering graduate-level IT education. Here she oversaw the development and delivery of educational programs, including the development of an on-line education strategy for the company. In her capacity as Executive Vice-President, Ms. Murray was instrumental in designing and executing a US expansion strategy and helped grow company revenues from $15 million annually to $50 million as she managed more than 225 employees in 12 geographic locations and a budget of $20 million. She also oversaw all matters related to licensing, regulatory and accreditation requirements.
In 2002 Murray moved to Colorado, where she was President and COO of New Ventures in Higher Education, a subsidiary of Regis University. New Ventures specializes in helping colleges and universities offer accelerated adult education programs. At New Ventures, she was instrumental in working with a client institution to establish a highly successful for-profit education corporation specializing in the delivery of bilingual (Spanish-English) accelerated adult degree programs. In addition, she developed a business model for helping colleges and universities offer on-line education.
In 2005, Murray joined the University of Dubuque.
The new VP Open Learning will assume her position at TRU Sept. 1.
TRU, a BC leader in distance and on-line education, assumed responsibility for all programs and services of BC Open University in April, 2005.
For more information, please contact TRU Office of the President at(250)828.5001.
