Tom Rocklin, Vice President for Student Life
Welcome to the Division of Student Life website. As Vice President for Student Life, I have the privilege of leading a talented and dedicated staff committed to our mission of fostering student success. We work with students to create and promote a multitude of educational opportunities that complement the opportunities that students have within the curriculum they study.
To the extent that our work is successful, students leave The University of Iowa with knowledge and lifelong habits that support their health and safety, with growing understandings of their roles in a multicultural and global society, and with the skills and knowledge to be leaders in their families, their communities, their workplaces, and the nation and world. Our work, like the work of our colleagues around the university, is a high calling.
I’m always pleased to hear from you, whether we’ve disappointed or delighted you. We’re here to serve students, as well as their families, and members of the greater university community. If we can be of help, please be in touch.
Tom Rocklin serves as Vice President for Student Life at The University of Iowa, where he’s been a faculty member and administrator for nearly 25 years. As Vice President, Tom oversees units that foster student success by creating and promoting educationally purposeful services and activities within and beyond the classroom.
A native Californian and proud adopted Iowan, Tom earned the A.B. degree in psychology at UC Berkeley in 1977 and the M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in psychology at Northwestern University in 1980 and 1981 respectively. After five years as a faculty member in the Psychology Department at Texas Christian University, he joined the faculty of the University of Iowa College of Education in 1986, rising to the rank of Professor in 1996. He served as chair of the Department of Psychological and Quantitative Foundations in the College of Education and founding director of the Center for Teaching. He has taught courses in educational psychology and research methodology and his research has examined the role of test anxiety in computerized adaptive testing. Tom is a fellow of the American Psychological Association.
Rocklin joined central administration as Interim Associate Provost for Faculty Development in 2004, was appointed Associate Provost for Undergraduate Education and Dean of the University College on July 1, 2006, was named Senior Associate Provost in April, 2007, and Vice Provost in September, 2007.
Tom serves the local community as a member of the Board of Directors of Goodwill of the Heartland and of the Englert Theater. He has recently returned to photography as a hobby, after a hiatus that reaches back to the pre-digital era.
