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1 HOUSE RESOLUTION
2 WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of
3 Representatives wish to congratulate Leslie Roundtree, D.H.S.
4 on the occasion of her retirement as interim provost and
5 senior vice president of Academic and Student Affairs and as
6 chairperson of the Department of Occupational Therapy at
7 Chicago State University; and
8 WHEREAS, Dr. Roundtree began her career in higher
9 education in 1982, working as a guest lecturer at the
10 University of Illinois at Chicago while also serving as an
11 occupational therapist at numerous hospitals throughout the
12 Chicago area; in 1993, she accepted a tenure-track position in
13 the Department of Occupational Therapy with teaching
14 responsibilities in the areas of Psychosocial Theory and
15 Practice, Health Systems Management, Research Methods in
16 Occupational Therapy, and other courses while also providing
17 clinical supervision for Level I and Level II students in
18 community sites without licensed therapists; and
19 WHEREAS, Upon earning tenure, Dr. Roundtree assumed
20 administrative and management responsibilities at Chicago
21 State University, beginning as chairperson of the Department
22 of Occupational Therapy; she maintained a robust research
23 agenda in the area of elderly wellness, adolescents, health
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1 promotion, and minority and disadvantaged student learning;
2 she also led the department through two exceptional
3 accreditation processes and transitioned the undergraduate
4 program to a combined Bachelor of Science in Health Sciences
5 and Master of Occupational Therapy program; and
6 WHEREAS, Dr. Roundtree served as dean of the College of
7 Health Sciences from 2014 to 2018, during which she was
8 responsible for three departments and the university's
9 Wellness Center; in her role as dean, she ensured cross
10 college communication for recruitment, retention, and student
11 engagement activities; she also developed an interprofessional
12 task force that addressed interprofessional education between
13 the College of Health Sciences and the College of Pharmacy;
14 and
15 WHEREAS, Dr. Roundtree was selected as interim provost and
16 vice president of Academic and Student Affairs in August 2018;
17 her duties have included administrative oversight of the five
18 colleges of Chicago State University as well as the Division
19 of Student Affairs, Grants & Research, Graduate & Professional
20 Studies, and Non-traditional Programs and Continuing
21 Education; she was also responsible for managing a $42 million
22 budget and securing a 10-year renewal of the university's
23 accreditation reaffirmation with the Higher Learning
24 Commission; and
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1 WHEREAS, While serving as a member of the executive
2 leadership team, Dr. Roundtree continued as a scholar, and one
3 focus of her scholarship has been student success that targets
4 enhancing the educational options for underserved and
5 underrepresented students; she has served as the principal
6 investigator for multiple federal grants to support student
7 success, the education of health professionals, and the
8 improvement of improving educational outcomes, securing over
9 $26 million in multi-year funding in the process; her
10 initiatives along with others have assisted Chicago State
11 University in leading the State of Illinois in increasing the
12 graduation rate of ethnic and racial minorities and
13 educationally disadvantaged students in the field of health
14 information administration, public health, nursing, and
15 occupational therapy; and
16 WHEREAS, Dr. Roundtree has been the recipient of several
17 honors during her career, including receiving a Service
18 Commendation as an Advocate in Workforce Diversity by the
19 American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA) in 2021,
20 receiving an Award of Merit by the Illinois Occupational
21 Therapy Association that same year, and being recognized as a
22 Fellow and as a Pioneer in Diversifying the Occupational
23 Therapy Profession by the AOTA in 2022; and
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1 WHEREAS, Dr. Roundtree will retire on June 30, 2024;
2 therefore, be it
3 RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE
4 HUNDRED THIRD GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that
5 we congratulate Leslie Roundtree, D.H.S. on her retirement
6 from Chicago State University, and we thank her for her 32
7 years of service and dedication to the institution; and be it
8 further
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