Academic Program Building

As a founding faculty member of the Wilkes Honors College Dr. Steigenga gained extensive experience in academic program building. He has chaired and served on  numerous faculty searches, was twice appointed to search committees for the position of college dean, and authored large sections of the bylaws, promotion and tenure guidelines, and concentrations in Latin American Studies and International Studies. He has served as Presiding Officer of the Faculty Assembly, as a Provost's Appointee to the committee on expanding honors opportunities, as the elected college representative for the social sciences, chair of the social sciences and humanities, and associate dean of community engagement.  Dr. Steigenga played a key role in developing numerous college policies and guidelines including market equity policies, study abroad and internship policies, service-learning policies, banking policies for faculty assignments, and recruiting strategies. He also developed and led a seven credit study abroad program in Guatemala in 2008, 2009, and 2012. He currently serves as co-director of the Kenan Social Engagement Program. 

Budget/Fundraising

Dr. Steigenga was appointed by the President of FAU to serve on the University's Capital Campaign and negotiated multiple individual gifts and funded scholarships with friends of the university. He holds responsibility for administering and budgeting scholarships, as well as multiple grants and non-profit budgets. As a fundraiser and grant-writer for Corn-Maya, El Sol, and Ak'Tenamit, he has raised more than  $300,000 in grants from diverse sources (United Way, Community Foundation, Knight Foundation, County grants, and private donations from family foundations).

Strategic Planning/Assessment

Dr. Steigenga has participated and led strategic planning sessions and SWOT analyses for multiple non-profits and university units. He helped to develop a rubric for assessing student writing portfolios and twice served on the SACS evaluation committee (which was cited for best practices by the university).

Conference/ Event Organization

As a representative of the university, multiple non-profits, and co-principal investigator on grants from the Ford Foundation, Dr. Steigenga has planned and organized conferences and academic workshops in diverse venues (from Washington D.C. and Emory University to Antigua Guatemala).  He has also chaired or organized international panels for the Latin American Studies Association, the American Political Science Association, and multiple smaller national and local organizations.

Public Speaking/ Media Appearances

Dr. Steigenga frequently serves as an invited lecturer on topics ranging from immigration to human rights and religion and politics in Latin America.  He has been interviewed and appeared in multiple media venues ranging from the Palm Beach Post and the South Florida Sun Sentinel to CNN.