"It's like coming home."

So says Dr. June Wiley, the new vice-president of academic affairs and dean of faculty at Marymount University in Rancho Palos Verdes.

After earning an associate degree at Elizabeth Seton College in Yonkers, the 53-year-old woman graduated from Marymount College in Terrytown, N.Y., in 1981 with a bachelor's degree in psychology. "I got an exceptional education there," she reports. "Now I'm really glad to be at another Marymount."

Wiley went on to earn a master's and doctorate in social work from Arizona State University. She worked with Arizona's department of corrections and was a family counselor at an Air Force base.

"Then I made the jump to education," she says.

For 18 years, Wiley worked at Ottawa University in Phoenix, starting as an adjunct faculty member, then moving up to assistant professor of human services, associate dean of business and human resources, chair of the social/behavioral sciences division and dean of instruction.

Since July 1, the single parent of three children (Rosalyn, Matthew and Garrett) has held what she calls one job with two titles at Marymount.

"My role is really one of oversight, ensuring that the quality of the curriculum is excellent, the courses are current and that students will be able to successfully transfer to four-year colleges and universities," she explains.

"My role also involves helping faculty to develop in their roles - what they bring to the institution in terms of academic expertise and making sure that they're staying current in the field. Because I want to ensure that the faculty are top-notch in being able to offer students the most contemporary information."

But Wiley is well aware of the challenges she's likely to encounter at Marymount. Whenever you're trying to influence any institution, you're going to face some resistance, she notes. In her eight weeks here, however, she's also been inspired by the fact that both administrators and faculty are excited about wanting to see the college move forward.

"Marymount has undergone many changes throughout its 75-year history," she says. "And it's undergoing changes now since the new president, Dr. [Michael] Brophy, came in 2006. People here are excited about doing new things and energized about what's going on in higher education. They want to be engaged and engaging in the classroom. So that is definitely a joy."

Another is her passion for learning.

"I love higher education," she says. "I feel a vision. And I like knowing that I'm able to motivate people and people want to get involved in my ideas in working collaboratively. That's one of the main joys."

The native New Yorker believes she'll be able to face the challenges of her demanding dual positions because of the solid Catholic and Quaker education she received as a girl and young woman. At Good Counsel Academy in White Plains, the Sisters of the Divine Compassion laid an academic and moral framework she's still drawing on today.

"When I went to Catholic school, the nuns were very supportive of me," she recalls. "And I excelled for two reasons: because of my parents' push for me to excel and because of the nuns' belief in me and their encouragement. That's always a part of my story because that was so influential."

At the George School in Newtown, Pennsylvania - a boarding school established by the Religious Society of Friends in 1893 that she attended the first two years of high school - the developing adolescent was challenged by the rigorous college-prep curriculum. In addition, she was taken by the Quaker values of tolerance, equality and, most of all, social justice.

"The Quaker boarding school provided an opportunity for me to grow up because I had to live away from home," she explains. "And it allowed me to blossom in terms of seeing the world from a different perspective - a very liberal tradition where exploration of ideas and promoting your ability to think and be an individual was really stressed.

"At both schools," she adds, "there were a lot of opportunities for participation in social justice events and learning about social justice."

These hands-on community experiences propelled Wiley to go into social work and later education - fields where she could not only touch lives, but also possibly change them.

"Community colleges are actually growing, and when you look at Marymount as a private two-year institution, we really fit a very unique role in that the Catholic identity is strong," observes the social worker-turned-educator. "And then our students get the opportunity to have an experience that includes a residential program that you don't find at most two-year institutions today.

"The community here is just very warm and accepting," she stresses. "So students can learn more about themselves and get comfortable with being away from home -and then go ahead and successfully prepare to transfer to a four-year college or university. So we really do fill a niche in higher education, and I'm glad now to be a part of that."