The Philadelphia Center and Hope College are proud to announce the appointment of Dr. Rosina S. Miller as Executive Director of The Philadelphia Center, an off-campus internship program founded by the Great Lakes Colleges Association. The 2007-2008 academic year also marks The Philadelphia Center's 40th anniversary, and, under Miller's leadership, the Center hopes to enrich and expand its offerings of personally and professionally rewarding experiences to continued generations of undergraduate students.

The Philadelphia Center and Hope College are proud to announce the appointment of Dr. Rosina S. Miller as Executive Director of The Philadelphia Center, an off-campus internship program founded by the Great Lakes Colleges Association. The 2007-2008 academic year also marks The Philadelphia Center's 40th anniversary, and, under Miller's leadership, the Center hopes to enrich and expand its offerings of personally and professionally rewarding experiences to continued generations of undergraduate students.

Miller has played a key role in experiential education at The Philadelphia Center for over 16 years. After several years on staff, Miller joined the faculty as a full-time faculty advisor in 1994. Faculty advisors at The Philadelphia Center not only teach city and experience-based seminars, but they also work very closely with students, helping them make the most of their internships, adjust to the urban environment, and take advantage of all that experiential education has to offer.

An active proponent of education, Miller is also one of the co-founders of the Independence Charter School (ICS), a community-oriented elementary school. ICS provides an intellectually stimulating curriculum with an international focus and boasts the city's first Spanish immersion program. Since the school's inception in 2001, she has served on the school's Board of Trustees, each year being elected an officer and sitting on the Executive Committee, most recently completing a term as President.

Carrying this base of knowledge into her role as Executive Director of The Philadelphia Center, Miller says she plans to uphold the Center's legacy of careful attention to student learning in all aspects of life. "I feel privileged to be able to participate in the student growth that our unique program offers. Experiential education is a powerful tool to connect learning in different contexts - in and out of the classroom - and a valuable one to employ throughout one's life. I am honored to inherit the leadership of this premier program and look forward to advancing The Philadelphia Center in this changing world of higher education."

Hope College Registrar and Dean for Academic Services Jon Huisken states, "I am looking forward to working with her as she leads this excellent program into the next decade. Rosina's past experience as a faculty member and her proven administrative ability as the president of a charter school board give her the tools and perspective needed to make this program prosper. She understands and strongly supports experiential learning and she relates well to the community and to her peers in the program."

Miller graduated Phi Beta Kappa with a degree in English from Temple University, and received her M.L.A. and M.A. from the University of Pennsylvania. She also earned a Ph.D. in Folklore and Folklife from the University of Pennsylvania. Miller, a lifelong resident of Philadelphia, currently lives in Center City with her husband and two children, and looks forward to sharing her passion for education and the city with generations of students to come.

The Philadelphia Center was founded in 1967 and is managed by Hope College and recognized by the Great Lakes Colleges Association. The Philadelphia Center is an off-campus study program that welcomes students from GLCA campuses and liberal arts colleges across the country. Over 5000 students from nearly 100 campuses have participated in the program. The Philadelphia Center offers a structured educational environment for undergraduate students in the context of an urban setting. The Philadelphia Center is committed to helping students develop an understanding of urban issues; a clearer view of personal objectives, values, and abilities in relation to a field of work; and independent city living.