From the Dean's Desk: Changing Views

Greetings from the Office of Graduate Studies! The title for this fall’s newsletter reflects many things… the changes we see in the fall colors this time of year, the changes to our office’s organization and leadership, and the new views from our office windows now that we’ve moved to a new location in DeVos Center. A lot has happened within the Office of Graduate Studies since our last issue! First, we have moved our offices on the 3rd floor of DeVos to the north entrance side where our exterior offices view the Hunting YMCA while our interior space overlooks the atrium near the student service windows below.

Second, Dean Priscilla Kimboko decided to return to a faculty role in the College of Community and Public Service over the summer. Consequently, Provost Davis made the decision to realign the Office of Graduate Studies and Grants Administration into separate administrative units – the Office of Grants (led by Interim Director Christine Chamberlain) and the Office of Graduate Studies (including the Autism Education Center). For this reason, as Associate Dean of Graduate Studies, I was asked to take on the role of Interim Dean for this year while Grand Valley searches for a permanent graduate dean. Irene Fountain and Jennifer Palm (nee Wildey) continue in their staff roles for Graduate Studies while Michael Soltis continues as our graduate assistant for this year.

We also retain the skills of Lucas Bender as a student office assistant and have recently hired Joe Patton as a student assistant for web and database management. I am thankful for our staff for their diligent work and flexibility in adapting to these changes, thereby providing a welcomed sense of continuity to our office and its responsibilities regarding graduate education at GVSU.

The Autism Education Center was busy during the summer, holding two training institutes along with work on new program development. A number of projects are in the works for the next academic year. Please read more about the AEC’s activities elsewhere in this newsletter.

Graduate Studies continues to assist and support the work of Graduate Council and the agenda for the 2009-10 academic year focuses on continued Policy Subcommittee work on review, revision, and drafting policies to set minimal standards for graduate education, from admissions to theses, dissertations, and doctoral research projects. The Curriculum Subcommittee continues its work in reviewing and approving course changes, new programs, and other graduate curricular issues. Our continued quality in graduate education would not be possible without the diligent work of Graduate Council and the individual members of the subcommittees.

Two new initiatives from our office this year are creation of a reciprocal evaluation process for graduate assistants and their supervisors for assessment of our graduate assistantship program and design of a graduate student success program (called “PACES”) that would assist our graduate students in further developing skills in the five areas of professionalism, advancement, communication, engagement, and success for life after their GVSU graduate degree, whether that be a career or an advanced degree. We look forward to working with the Provost’s Office and other units in bringing this program to life next year.

Finally, our fall graduate student enrollment numbers for our degree programs have increased over those of last year and our graduate student population now represents 15% of the university’s total enrollment. We look forward to assisting the Admissions Office with their recruitment efforts and working with the academic colleges to strategically grow our graduate degree programs in those areas where demand is high and sustainable for the future. As we approach the university’s 50th –year celebration in 2010-11, this year will bring some new and exciting developments for graduate education here at Grand Valley. I look forward to updating you on our progress in future newsletters.

John R. Stevenson, PT, PhD
Interim Dean of Graduate Studies
Professor of Physical Therapy

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