John Barker, dean of International Education and Extended Programming, leaves Tufts

John Barker, dean of International Education and Extended Programming (IEEP), left Tufts at the end of the fall semester, according to Dean of the School of Arts and Sciences, James Glaser. Baker plans to relocate to Rochester, NY where he will pursue a career in the private sector focused on educational consulting.

Prior to joining the Tufts administration, Barkerserved as the assistant provost for undergraduate education at the University of Miami. Barker arrived at Tufts in 2012 and first served as the Dean of Undergraduate and Graduate Students.

“As Dean of Graduate and Undergraduate Students, Barker’s proudest accomplishment was the foundation of the BLAST [Bridge to Liberal Arts Success at Tufts] program, which has been a true success here,” Glaser told the Daily in an email.

According to its website, BLAST is a "residential six-week program in the summer prior to the first year at Tufts that works to support, develop and retain students who may be first in their family to attend a four-year college, and/or have attended an under resourced high school and/or have been affiliated with a college access agency."

A year and a half ago, Barker turned his attentions fully to international and expanded education initiatives. After serving as Dean of Graduate and Undergraduate Students, Barker transitioned to his new position as the dean of  the IEEP in November 2016.

“As the University sought new opportunities for international programming, Dean Barker was involved in strategizing about and implementing many of those plans,” Glaser said. “Given his domain, he was on the road a lot, particularly in Asia, and he did a fine job developing relationships there.”

While Barker was dean of the IEEP, he worked with Joseph Auner, dean of Academic Affairs for Arts and Sciences on these projects.

“I mainly interacted with Dean Barker after I started in the dean’s office two years ago, primarily in the area of expanding and upgrading the Summer Session at Tufts,” Auner told the Daily in an email.

As a result of the expansion and upgrade of the summer session, Tufts will offer two new faculty-led study-abroad programs this summer in Costa Rica and Spain, in addition to the existing program in Talloires, France.

“Dean Barker played an important role in the launch of our new summer study abroad courses, two of which are launching this coming summer,” Auner said.

In addition to his work with Tufts Summer Session, Barker had responsibility for strengthening and enhancing study abroad programs, the International Center, international partnerships, conferences and event services and the Confucius Institute.

Glaser said there is currently no plan to replace Barker and his responsibilities will be divided amongst several people.

Beyond his roles as dean of Undergraduate and Graduate Students and dean of the IEEP,Barker worked with individually with students who were working to improve life at Tufts.

Olive Baerde, a sophomore, worked with Barker on their start-up project, Ammi. According to Baerde, Ammi aims to connect Tufts students through matching them up for study groups, dining hall partners and other various activities of their choice around campus, neighboring communities and Boston.

“I reached out to him because I saw he was working on Tufts life and he cared about the importance of interpersonal connections,” Baerde told the Daily in an electronic message. “He did a great job connecting me with other people at Tufts and serving as mentor, I’m really sad to see him go.”