Richard Novak
Vice President for Continuing Studies and Distance Education
Phone: 848-932-4910
Email: rnovak@docs.rutgers.edu
Location:
Division of Continuing Studies
85 Somerset Street
Room 30051
New Brunswick, NJ 08901-1281
Roles and Responsibilities
- Executive Leadership for the Division of Continuing Studies (DoCS)
- Coordination of University-wide Non-Credit Programs
- Management of University-wide Support Services related to lifelong learning
- Operation of the Rutgers University Inn & Conference Center and iTV Studio
Biography
Richard Novak, Ed.D., is vice president for continuing studies and distance education in University Academic Affairs at Rutgers University, a role he has held since 2013. He has been instrumental in shaping the direction and growth of the Division of Continuing Studies since its inception and has led online learning at Rutgers since 1997.
Dr. Novak oversees a dynamic and multifaceted division, collaborating across the university to coordinate and deliver thousands of programs annually, serving more than 100,000 learners from preschool-aged children to centenarian adults. Novak's responsibilities also include oversight of the University Inn and Conference Center and the HD broadcast television studio, iTV, ensuring that these universitywide support services maintain the highest standards of excellence.
Novak is a two-time Rutgers alumnus, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts in history and a doctoral degree in adult and continuing education. He holds a master’s degree from Princeton Theological Seminary.
In addition to his administrative role, Novak is an associate member of the Rutgers Graduate School of Education faculty, where he has taught face-to-face, hybrid, and fully online courses since 1993. His commitment to professional and continuing higher education is evidenced by his leadership in UPCEA, the world’s leading professional, continuing, and online education association, where he is past-president and continues to advise and teach in various leadership capacities. Recognition and awards from UPCEA include the Walton S. Bittner Service Citation for Imaginative Leadership in the Advancement of Continuing Education and Distinguished Service to the Association (2004), the National Excellence in Online Administration award (2011), and the Julius M. Nolte Award for Extraordinary Leadership in 2019. In 2021, he received the UPCEA Mid-Atlantic Regional Award for DEI Leadership and was recognized in 2022 with the National Award for Leadership in Diversity and Inclusive Excellence.
Outside of Rutgers, Novak has been an elected Council Member for the Borough of Rocky Hill since 2022 and serves as its current president.
Novak led the transformation of a Rutgers’ administrative services building into the award-winning and world-class Lifelong Learning Center. Adhering to biophilic design principles, the center fosters creativity, innovation, collaboration, and instructional excellence. The Lifelong Learning Center is registered for WELL Building certification, the first at Rutgers.