Rod Githens

Rod is currently Associate Dean for Academic Programs and Innovation in the Benerd School of Education at University of the Pacific in California. His work is focused on helping leaders of all types nurture human and organizational potential. Rod’s professional practice focuses on organizational learning, organization development, strategic planning, and evaluation.

In his current role at Pacific, Rod leads school-wide academic program development, innovation facilitation, and enrollment services. Rod facilitated the development and implementation of the school’s strategic plan, Benerd Reimagined, which is resulting in a major academic and organizational transformation. He’s currently a key leader in the school as it merges with the university’s continuing and professional education unit in 2019-2020. In his previous role at Pacific, he led the startup of the Benerd School in Sacramento, designed to be a hub of innovation and creativity for learning, leadership, and change.

Prior to his work at Pacific, Rod worked at Drexel University’s startup campus in Sacramento and led the transformation of a program group at University of Louisville, which tripled in enrollment to 550 students during his time there. Before becoming a faculty member, Rod managed a group of online programs at the University of Illinois. In his previous career, Rod worked in the corporate sector doing learning and development and human resources work. His Ph.D. focused on Organization Development and Change at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.