Former Lakehead student new interim principal at Orillia campus - OrilliaMatters

Lakehead University’s Orillia campus has a new interim principal, but she is not a newcomer to the campus as long-time employee Dr. Linda Rodenburg has taken the reins.

For Rodenburg, becoming interim principal has brought her career full circle. She started as a concurrent education program student at Lakehead’s Thunder Bay campus in 1995. After finishing her PhD in New Zealand, she joined Lakehead’s Orillia campus faculty as an English teacher in 2006.

“I’ve been really committed to the community ever since,” she said. “This role is really an opportunity to bring that passion for education and community engagement into a leadership position on campus.”

Rodenburg, 46, grew up on a farm in Woodstock. She was one of the first people in her family to go on to post-secondary education and the first one to have a PhD.

“I think that is one of the reasons I’m so comfortable in Orillia,” she said. “I feel like, for many families in Orillia, their students are pursuing post-secondary education for the first time.”

While serving as interim principal, Rodenburg will continue to provide oversight to faculty working in the community engagement office as she did in her previous role as director of community engagement.

She says her passion for the university comes from the campus being a place for lifelong learning for everyone in Simcoe County.

“I feel like Lakehead is an accessible place to experience educational opportunities,” she said. “I really feel like anyone can feel at home here.”

Lakehead is at a pivotal moment in its history, Rodenburg says, making her new job even more important.

“We are emerging from a pandemic,” she said. “I feel like Lakehead is uniquely situated for us to participate in real conversations about how we can move forward as a community.”

Rodenburg’s says her goal is to cultivate relationships that will allow for important conversations to happen.

“Relationships between faculty, teachers and researchers, community partners, and high school students — all of them need to feel welcomed on campus and a part of the conversation going forward about how we do things differently after this pandemic,” she said.

Bridging relationships between the university and the community is a job Rodenburg feels confident about. She will be given a year or two in the interim role before having to apply to become the permanent principal.

“There will definitely be a search at the national level for a role of this nature,” she said. “If I’m excited to continue on, I’ll be excited to compete.”

For now, she is focused on the present and getting down to business.

“I think the county is growing, Orillia is thriving, and I’m committed to ensuring that Lakehead is a part of those conversations going forward,” she said. “I think it’s such an important moment for us as a community to think through how our university functions at the heart of Orillia.”

Dean Jobin-Bevans will remain a member of Lakehead’s faculty. However, Rodenburg did not speak about why he is no longer principal.

“I’m not sure that it’s appropriate for me to really talk about that,” she said.

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Former Lakehead student new interim principal at Orillia campus - OrilliaMatters
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