Dr. Dan Kittle, director of the Wartburg College Center for Community Engagement, will help lead the college’s strategic plan initiative.

President Darrel Colson announced that Kittle will assume responsibilities April 1 as assistant to the president for strategic initiatives. He will also continue as CCE director.

Kittle will work with Janeen Stewart, assistant to the president for special projects, and the strategic planning committee to organize and lead implementation of the 2010-20 strategic plan, “Living Our Learning; Claiming Our Calling; Transforming Tomorrow.”

In that role Kittle will engage the campus community — from students, faculty and staff to regents, alumni and friends — in dialogue and action aimed at achieving measurable success. Kittle said he will emphasize collaborative efforts, constant communication, recognition of accomplishments and transparency in the process.

“Although we are all stewards of the strategic plan, I hope to be a spark to ensure we are making reasonable progress on the goals we’ve outlined,” he said. “I will certainly invite ideas and engagement throughout the process and am looking forward to getting started.”

Kittle spearheaded the flood recovery and relief response in Waverly in 2008 after the city asked the CCE to take the lead role. Kittle, who helped establish the Bremer County Recovery Coalition, was the recipient of a Governor’s Volunteer Award for his efforts.

The Washington Center for Internships and Academic Seminars cited Wartburg as one of five inaugural recipients of its Higher Education Civic Engagement Award in 2009, citing the CCE for integrating “every aspect of student life with the ideals of leadership, service and civic engagement.”

Kittle came to Wartburg in 2005 as CCE’s community partnerships coordinator and was promoted to director in 2008. He holds a bachelor’s degree in public relations and political science from Heidelberg (Ohio) University. He earned a master’s degree in political science and a Ph.D. in higher, adult, learning and education from Michigan State University.