With the first semester of the 2022-23 academic year complete, the “new” graduate studies leadership is no longer so new. But following the longtime leadership of recently retired Pam Carmines, PhD, graduate students and even faculty may still wonder who to turn to regarding various issues. To that end, Kendra Schmid, PhD, executive associate dean for graduate studies, and Karen Gould, PhD, assistant dean for graduate student success and campus-wide director of assessment, wanted to offer a refresher on the new team and its roles.
As executive associate dean, Dr. Schmid supports Dele Davies, MD, dean of graduate studies and senior vice chancellor for academic affairs, in leading graduate studies. Among numerous duties, she oversees and supervises the day-to-day operations of the Office of Graduate Studies.
Dr. Gould, as her title implies, has the overarching objective of helping graduate students succeed, both at UNMC and in their future endeavors.
Both Drs. Schmid and Gould invite students and faculty to come to them with any challenges related to their programs or interpersonal mentor-mentee relationships.
“We can be someone to bounce ideas off of,” Dr. Gould said. “A neutral party that’s knowledgeable on how the system and processes work.”
Even staff, faculty and program directors might need advice on how to approach certain situations. It need not be a conflict, but a student or faculty member might be looking for a way to solve a problem without breaking confidentiality, for example.
“There might be different options on how to navigate a challenge or help a student,” Dr. Gould said.
Meanwhile, Dr. Schmid is conduct officer for graduate studies; oversees response to student grievances against faculty; oversees academic probation and the review/approval of remediation plans; reviews and determines decisions on policy exemption requests; and works with program directors to deal with emergent student issues, among other roles and duties. She also chairs monthly Graduate Council meetings and the Graduate Studies Policy Committee and oversee the five-year external reviews for all UNMC graduate programs, among other duties.
Dr. Gould takes on student programming such as writing boot camps, badge programs and career counseling and professional development. “We are trying to take some of that burden off of programs and faculty,” Dr. Gould said.
Brynn Waddell also joins the Office of Graduate Studies as a new graduate studies specialist. She is available to help students process information in Seguidor and with scholarship applications. Feel free to email her at brwaddell@unmc.edu or call 402-559-4476.
The recent reorganization of graduate studies leadership also included:
- Matt Zimmerman, PhD, is director of the Interdisciplinary Graduate Program in Biomedical Sciences (IGPBS) program.
- Dan Monaghan, PhD, is associate IGPBS program director and director of IGPBS Strategic Initiatives.
