May 2023 Message from Dean Mayo
May 15, 2023
We recognize there are many distinctive and unique needs within our TGS community, and we continue to invest in ways to support our various audiences.”
Kelly E. Mayo
Walter and Jennie Bayne Professor of Molecular Biosciences, Dean of The Graduate School and Associate Provost for Graduate Education
May is a time of eager anticipation as we welcome warmer weather and enter the final stretch of the Spring Quarter. For those of you who are completing your degrees, I extend my heartiest praise and wish you much success in your future endeavors. I hope to congratulate many of you in person during Graduation Weekend.
In addition, May is Asian, Pacific Islander, and Desi American (APIDA) Heritage Month. TGS is proud to recognize our APIDA students and scholars. It is important to celebrate and honor the unique cultures and traditions that comprise our vibrant graduate community. I encourage you to join in campus and local APIDA events to support and lift up one another.
This month also has many people anticipating the potential outcomes of the Supreme Court cases related to race-conscious admissions (affirmative action). Regardless of the decisions, what will not change is our commitment to engaging a diverse cohort of graduate students and postdoctoral fellows, to incorporating diverse thoughts, discussions, and ideas into our educational experiences, and to fostering a strong sense of inclusion and belonging on our campuses and in our communities.
Within TGS, we are strengthening our commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion through staffing and training. As we recently announced, Dr. Sheehan Fisher will lead our Office of Diversity and Inclusion as the new associate dean starting on June 1. We are also adding a director role to grow the capacity of the team and provide additional support to students and postdocs who are navigating the many challenges present in society and the graduate education experience. Over the next several months, TGS leaders will also participate in a comprehensive diversity, equity, accessibility, and inclusion training program to be more effective partners.
We recognize there are many distinctive and unique needs within our TGS community, and we continue to invest in ways to support our various audiences. In English Language Programs, for example, we are adding full-time staff with specialized training to support our international students and scholars. Establishing and maintaining effective and productive mentor and mentee relationships also continues to be an important area of focus. We recently completed the Spring Quarter mentoring workshops for graduate students and postdoctoral fellows, and we will be offering a faculty mentor training in June. TGS has offered a STEM version of this training since 2021, and the June session has been revised specifically for faculty in the humanities and social sciences. We also just launched a new training grant website to improve visibility and access to these important resources for training grant directors and administrators as well as students and postdocs.
Finally, the University continues to engage with the graduate student union as we work toward collective bargaining negotiations. If you have any questions as the process unfolds, you may submit them via this online question form. It is important to recognize that all parties share common goals in the successful recruitment, training, and placement of our outstanding PhD and MFA students. We look forward to a respectful and productive negotiation.
Whether the months ahead find you creating, collaborating, or conducting research and experiments, I hope you can take some time for the things you enjoy. We are here to support you throughout the year, and I wish you all a pleasant and rewarding summer.
Sincerely,
Kelly
Kelly E. Mayo
Walter and Jennie Bayne Professor of Molecular Biosciences
Dean of The Graduate School and
Associate Provost for Graduate Education
Categories: From the Dean