Title: Vice President, Academic Affairs Specialist (Retired)

Company: The Art Institutes

Location: Aventura, Fla.

Attributing her success to becoming the person she had always dreamed to become, assuming this role, and especially dressing the part, Barbara Roberts retired 35 years of communication and accreditation composition at The Art Institutes. There, she was vice president and academic affairs specialist, working with deans and academic directors to make sure they are following procedures and remaining within the budgets. In five years, Ms. Roberts hopes to experience continued growth in her career. She would also like to become involved in consulting.

Ms. Roberts’ advice for the younger generation entering the workforce is “The main thing is that you don’t have to copy men to be successful, you can still be yourself, be feminine. You are actually accepted better when you have the authority.  One caution is make sure you always dress professionally; for younger women just getting out of school, who are accustom to alluring dress, you need to start positioning yourself mentally and outwardly if you want to be in a position of power.  Don’t wait till your 30s and 40s to make the change.” Also, Ms. Roberts’ need to try an understand other’s helps her manage their operations and make change; her whole life has been about rapid changes, so change can be managed easily if one is delicate with the process.

Ms. Roberts has held leadership positions at several administrative levels, including president, regional vice president of academic affairs specialist and dean of academic affairs within The Art Institutes. Her prior life was with community colleges, where she began as an instructor. Ms. Roberts position will be ending on April 5th, and she is looking for a new position. She became involved in her profession because she started her career in teaching and knew she was good at it. She moved on to be a counselor and adviser, and became a mentor for a lot of folks.