GradEdge: Fall 2024

Suzanne Ortega Announces Plans to Step Down as President of the Council of Graduate Schools

Suzanne T. Ortega announced yesterday that she will step down as President of the Council of Graduate Schools effective June 30, 2025.

Michael Cunningham, Chair of the CGS Board of Directors and Associate Provost, Office of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies at Tulane University, said, “Suzanne Ortega’s leadership has given our community focus and inspiration throughout the challenges of the past decade.  Across CGS’s advocacy efforts, research and best practice initiatives, and membership programs, Suzanne has prioritized holistic, student-focused supports for graduate students at all phases of the educational journey.”

In a message to members, Ortega said, “It has been an honor collaborating with our member universities to make graduate education more accessible and rewarding for current and prospective graduate students. Our successes over the past ten years would not have been possible without the commitments and innovative mindsets of our member deans and campuses.”

See her letter to membership and the full press release for more details.

There’s Still Time to Join the Biggest Event in Graduate Education

Register now to join the CGS community for the 64th Annual Meeting in St. Louis, Missouri, on December 4-7. You won’t want to miss this unique forum where graduate education leaders gather to connect and learn from peers and thought leaders on issues driving graduate education.

At this year’s meeting, explore themes and sessions around AI, master’s education, DEI, student retention and election outcomes. Pre-meeting workshops and the CGS opening reception kick off the meeting on December 4. The meeting continues December 5–7 with plenary sessions, concurrent sessions, the annual awards ceremony luncheon and a networking reception on Thursday evening.

Community Voices: Leading Graduate Education in Challenging Times

The challenges deans face today are unique, multifaceted, and complex. However, graduate deans have faced difficult challenges before and will undoubtedly do so again in the future. Wojtek J. Chodzko-Zajko, Dean of the Graduate College at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, recently contributed to CGS’s blog Community Voices, exploring strategies graduate deans can use during times of change. He argues that some of the lessons learned from leading during the COVID-19 pandemic can offer valuable insights into how to approach our current dilemmas.

Pursuing a Graduate Degree in the U.S.: Inspired by Family, Supporting Fellow International Students

For Prashanthi Akuthota, going into the Information Technology (IT) industry was an easy decision to make. It is almost like the family business.

“In my family, most of my siblings- my brother, sisters, everybody- has an IT position,” Akuthota said. “Seeing them in IT jobs, I developed a similar interest.”

Learn more about how Akuthota’s family influenced her decision to pursue her Master of Science in Information Technology at Hood College and how she is helping her fellow international students thrive.

New Career Pathways Brief

In Their Own Words: Empowering PhD Graduates with Essential Career Skills

Enyu Zhou, Senior Research Analyst, and Marlena Wolfgramm, former CGS postdoctoral researcher, have a new brief out contextualizing CGS’s quantitative work on PhD Career Pathways research. Zhou and Wolfgramm conducted interviews to collect student narratives about their transitions from graduate school to postdoctoral study to their chosen careers.

Find out what PhD graduates had to say about exploring career pathways, mentorship and finding non-academic jobs.

2024 Global Summit: Transdisciplinary & Transnational Research to Solve Global Grand Challenges

At the beginning of this month, the 2024 Global Summit on Graduate Education convened at the University of Guadalajara, Mexico, and was co-hosted with Consejo Mexicano de Estudios de Posgrado A.C. (COMEPO). With the support of Educational Testing Service (ETS), graduate leaders from 15 countries met to build consensus around guiding principles for conducting transdisciplinary and transnational research to solve global grand challenges.

Advancing Equity-Minded Graduate Education in a Changing Legal Environment

Since last summer, CGS has been working with a coalition of education leaders and legal experts on developing resources that support diverse and inclusive graduate programs while remaining attuned to state and national legal contexts.

The project, funded from a grant by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, came in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s June 2023 rulings that placed new limitations on the consideration of race in higher education admissions. A committee of university leaders, researchers and legal experts was convened over the past year to advise CGS staff on the development of two equity-minded graduate education resources for distribution to graduate deans, faculty and staff.

Continue reading to learn more about the release of the first resource that is available along with a webinar, our second resource coming soon, and related topics at this year’s Annual Meeting.

IGE Hub Update: Securing Leadership Buy-in & Other Strategies for Research Project Sustainability

On October 3, the most recent IGE Idea Lab meeting focused on best practices for creating sustainability in research projects. Mary Lynn Realff, Associate Professor and MSCE Faculty Fellow, Associate Chair of Undergraduate Programs and Professor at Georgia Tech University, and Peter Harries, Dean of the Graduate School, North Caroline State University, led presentations on how to enhance the sustainability of research projects and programs in graduate education.

New and Improved: CGS Publications Library

CGS Welcomes New Staff

Joyce Kingue, Controller and Assistant VP of Finance
Joyce comes to CGS with 17 years of experience in the accounting field. She most recently served as the Controller for the American Society of Hematology. Joyce also was the Controller at St. Coletta of Greater Washington and the Accounting Manager for the American Society of Microbiology, both here in Washington, DC. Joyce has a master’s degree in accounting and is a licensed CPA. For fun she enjoys cooking, listening to music, and spending time with family.

Lisa Lanier, Director of Research
Lisa comes to CGS with extensive experience in the research field, most recently holding the position as Director of Research for the AARP Foundation, where she directed and managed the Foundation’s quantitative and qualitative research and evaluation team. Lisa has a Ph.D. in Public Health Education with a focus on research and education. In her free time, Lisa enjoys baking, doing jigsaw puzzles, and biking and hiking the trails around the DC metro area.

Omar Nasery, Manager, Membership and Events.
A new member of the Membership and Meetings team, Omar will support meeting registration processes and contribute to the development of member communications and engagement reports. Omar comes to us following 10 years at the National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD) where he most recently served as Senior Analyst, Attendee Management. Omar was born in Canada and raised in Washington state. In his free time, he loves watching soccer and playing trivia.

New CGS Leaders and Members

New Graduate Education Leaders

• Keena Arbuthnot, Vice President and Dean of the Graduate School, Louisiana State University and A & M College
• Keonya Booker, Interim Dean of the Graduate School, College of Charleston
• Angi Bourgeois, Interim Dean of the Graduate School, Mississippi State University
• Montrale Boykin, Interim Dean, Graduate College , Winston-Salem State University*
• Ethan Carver, Associate Provost for Academic Affairs and Dean of the Graduate School, The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga
• Kevin Cassel, Vice Provost for Academic Affairs, Illinois Institute of Technology
• Scott Challener, Interim Dean, Graduate College, Hampton University
• Christine Getz, Dean, School of Graduate Studies, University of Missouri, Kansas City
• Sarah Gordon, Dean, Jackson College of Graduate Studies, The University of Central Oklahoma
• Desideria (Desi) Hacker, Dean, School of Graduate Studies and Research, Norfolk State University
• Erica Hamilton, Interim Vice Provost for Graduate School, Grand Valley State University
• Stefanie Heinrich, Executive Director of Graduate and Online Education, Valparaiso University
• Corinne Lengsfeld, Senior Vice Provost for Research and Graduate Education, University of Denver
• Agida Manizade, Interim Assistant Provost for Graduate Affairs   Radford University
• Oyebade Kunle Oyerinde, Interim Dean, Graduate Education, Clark Atlanta University
• Gwyneth Price, Senior Vice Provost, Interim Dean of the Graduate School, The University of Akron
• Sharon Procter, Associate Provost, Office of Graduate Education and Academic Planning, Indiana University of Pennsylvania
• Jessica Reyman, Acting Dean, The Graduate School, Northern Illinois University
• Kristen “Kris” Roney, Associate Vice President, Faculty Affairs, California State University, Stanislaus
• Tilottama Roy, Interim Dean, Graduate School and Interim Vice Provost & Assistant Vice President for Academic Affairs, Missouri Western State University
• Mary Sortino, Dean of Graduate Studies and Professional Education, Fairmont State University

*Graduate education leader at new or returning CGS member institution

Returning Member
Winston-Salem State University, Regular Institutional Member, Winston-Salem, NC