Slippery Rock's incoming president says university is well-positioned for success

The woman poised to become Slippery Rock University’s next president said she passionately believes that education is fundamental to success in life.

“It changes lives,” said Karen Riley, whose career in education has spanned nearly four decades.

Currently the provost of Regis University in Denver, Riley, 60, began her career as an early childhood specialist and early childhood special education coordinator. In July, she will begin leading a state-owned university with a tradition of turning out teachers, at a time when Pennsylvania and the nation wrestle with a growing shortage of them.

In an interview with the Tribune-Review, her first since being hired on Dec. 21, the lifelong Coloradan whose husband grew up in Western Pennsylvania said she believes Slippery Rock is well-positioned to make a difference.

Riley pointed to Slippery Rock’s teaching traditions, dating to its normal school days, and also to its price point in the market compared to more costly institutions. Faculty and staff and their collaboration with area school districts and other groups beyond campus also open up possibilities, Riley said.

“I’m really looking forward to partnering with superintendents, local education leaders to think of creative and innovative ways for us to address the teacher shortage, to keep the cost of a degree low, and to provide professional support and professional development to the teachers while they’re in their jobs,” she said.

Yearly in-state tuition at Slippery Rock is $7,716, not counting fees, room and board. Tuition rates there and across the State System of Higher Education have been frozen for four years.

Riley plans to travel to Slippery Rock this week to meet with faculty, staff and students.

Her appointment as Slippery Rock’s 18th president, effective July 1, comes as many regional public universities in the Northeast and Midwest are facing unprecedented challenges. They include population loss, rapid changes in the higher education marketplace, the recent pandemic and skepticism over the value of a college degree given its price.

Riley said she wants to focus on attracting not only students who are seeking bachelor’s degrees, but also ones who are more focused on earning a certification or other credentials that could enable them to quickly obtain good-paying jobs.

She said Slippery Rock’s location — about an hour north of Pittsburgh and reasonably close to Ohio and to Erie — lends itself to partnerships with industry. She said she wants to see expanded opportunities for students in health care, nursing “and a plethora of really interesting programs that I think will be the professions of the future.”

Riley said she will benefit from previous leadership that was savvy in developing programs while being fiscally responsible. Another advantage she sees are faculty and staff who are invested in their students — something she said was apparent to her when she came to campus during the search process.

Among the 10 State System of Higher Education institutions, Slippery Rock’s graduation and first-year retention rates are second only to West Chester University in suburban Philadelphia, according to system data. Slippery Rock’s four- and six-year graduation rates are 51% and 67%, respectively, while 82% of its freshmen return for their second year.

Riley grew up in Littleton outside Denver, nearly 1,500 miles from Pittsburgh by car. But even before the presidency of Slippery Rock opened up, she had ties to Western Pennsylvania

Her husband Steve, a retired attorney, is from Indiana Township and graduated from Fox Chapel Area High School before earning a bachelor’s degree from Washington & Jefferson College.

“His parents still live there,” Riley said. “His brother and some nieces and nephews as well, so we have very deep roots in that Western Pennsylvania area.”

In fact, even before a recruiter for Slippery Rock contacted her about the university’s presidency, Riley said a family member told her about the job opening and said, “Hey, this sounds like you.”

Riley became provost at Regis in 2021. For seven years before that, she was dean of the College of Education at the University of Denver, according to her biography on the Regis website.

Officials there and at Slippery Rock say she is an internationally recognized expert in neurodevelopmental disorders. “Her scholarship focuses on interdisciplinary and intersystem approaches to addressing the complex issues of today’s society and improving the lives of children and families affected by Fragile X syndrome and Down syndrome,” according to her bio.

She has a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Colorado State University. She earned both her master’s degree in early childhood special education and her doctorate in educational psychology from the University of Denver.

She had a two-year, post-doctoral fellowship at the Children’s Hospital in Denver in the Fragile X Treatment and Research Center and subsequently worked at the Child Development Unit within the hospital.