The 2024 CLAS Faculty Governance Elections are scheduled to run from 8:00 a.m. on Wednesday, April 24, to midnight on Wednesday, May 1. Please contact Lisa Gray with any questions or problems concerning the faculty elections.
The CLAS Graduate Educational Policy Committee meets monthly during the academic year to advise the College on policies and procedures relating to the College’s educational mission, curriculum, and teaching. Committee duties detailed in the CLAS Manual of Procedure, Article VIII. The committee is chaired by Christine Getz, Associate Dean for Graduate Education. View the current membership of the Committee.
The Graduate Educational Policy Committee has three member seats to fill this year. One member must come from the Natural and Mathematical Sciences, one member must come from the Social Sciences, and one member will be elected At Large from any of the electoral voting groups. Voting faculty may vote for candidates in all electoral groups, and may cast votes for one, two or three candidates.
NATURAL AND MATHEMATICAL SCIENCES (Electoral Group I) candidates (click on name to see statement)
SOCIAL SCIENCES (Electoral Group II) candidates (click on name to see statement)
AT LARGE candidates (click on name to see statement)
NATURAL AND MATHEMATICAL SCIENCES (ELECTORAL GROUP I) CANDIDATE STATEMENTS
Juan Pablo Hourcade
Professor, Computer Science
Director, Interdisciplinary Graduate Program in Informatics
2021 CLAS Collegiate Teaching Award
ACM Distinguished Speaker
Ph.D., University of Maryland
Joined UI Faculty in 2006
I hope to bring my experience in graduate education and my interdisciplinary background to contribute insights to the GEPC. I have been Director of the Interdisciplinary Graduate Program in Informatics (IGPI) since 2015. During these 9 years, the program has grown more than 35%, gone from a 2-1 male-to-female graduation ratio to gender parity among graduate students without giving any preferential treatment to female applicants, and reduced time-to-degree for PhD students by about two years. I also led the writing of and executed ideas from a Strategic Plan that greatly simplified the program, updated the curriculum, provided clarity to students, and added flexibility to the PhD program.
In my home department of Computer Science, I led the redesign of the Informatics undergraduate curriculum, which went into effect in the Fall of 2021. I also facilitated an inclusive approach to the development of my home department’s Strategic Plan during the 2019-20 academic year. More recently, I led the development of our department’s Broadening Participation in Computing Plan, which was among the first 20 plans to be verified by the Computing Research Association (CRA).
In terms of service to the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, my most recent contribution was being a member of the Undergraduate Educational Policy and Curriculum Committee during the Spring of 2021. At the University level, I have served in various capacities at the Obermann Center and the Delta Center, two units that support interdisciplinary research on campus.
Jason J. Radley
Professor and Ronnie Ketchel Faculty Fellow
Dept. Psychological and Brain Sciences
Neuroscience Graduate Program
Iowa Neuroscience Institute
PhD, Princeton University
Joined UI Faculty in 2011
Graduate student mentoring is one my top priorities as a faculty member at UI. In the 13 years since I have been at Iowa, nearly half of all my teaching, mentoring, and service activities have been centered around graduate education. My primary goal as a mentor is to enable student development for excellence in scientific research and teaching. Former trainees from my laboratory have gone on to successful careers in academic science, industry, and teaching.
Thus far, I have gained much experience with graduate training and policy development in my primary department, Psychological and Brain Sciences (PBS), and as a member of the Neuroscience Graduate Program (NPG). If elected to the Graduate Educational Policy Committee, I look forward to the opportunity to advise the college about policies and procedures relevant to graduate programs more broadly. In PBS, I have served as the Area Coordinator for the Behavioral and Cognitive Neuroscience Training Area from 2018-2023, and I served on the Committee on Graduate Studies from 2017-2023. In the NPG, I have served on the Awards committee from (2012-2014) and Comprehensive Examinations committee (2016-present). Since I mentor graduate students from both PBS and NPG, I am very familiar with how graduate training works for graduate students across CLAS and CCOM. To date, four students from my laboratory have completed their PhD (2 PBS, 2 NPG), and I am currently training 3 PhD students through PBS. Across both training programs, I have served on 37 PhD thesis committees and 50 comprehensive examination committees.
My research training program is dedicated to creating a welcome and respectful environment. I have attained National Research Mentoring Network and UI BUILD training. More than half of the students that I have mentored (graduate, undergraduate, post-bac) are from diverse backgrounds. I have served as primary mentor for students in the Iowa Biosciences Academy, which supports inclusion of individuals from groups that are underrepresented in graduate training in the biosciences. In addition to our support of students through NIH awards, we have received additional funding from the OVPR to support training of students from backgrounds underrepresented in the sciences.
I also have additional administrative experience that I would bring to this position. I am an elected member of the CLAS Faculty Assembly (2021). I serve on the Faculty Policies and Compensation Committee (FPCC) for the Faculty Senate (2021), and Judicial Committee (2021).
SOCIAL SCIENCES (Electoral Group Ii) CANDIDATE STATEMENTS
Megan E. Gilster
Associate Professor, Social Work
Co-Director of Graduate Studies, PhD Program Director
Ph.D. University of Michigan
Joined UI Faculty in 2013
There is a growing need for graduate education to be accessible to all students and translatable to real-world problems and nonacademic career paths. If elected to the Graduate Education Policy Committee, I would work to ensure graduate students can be successful by ensuring policies and procedures 1) unpack the hidden curriculum of graduate school to address inequality, and 2) improve mentorship to support students on their journey through graduate school and beyond. These goals are in line with my personal values of equality and collaboration.
I am an Associate Professor of Social Work and Director of Graduate Studies with over ten years of experience teaching and mentoring graduate students at Iowa. I primarily teach our diverse, practice oriented MSW students. I have mentored and advised dozens of MSW and PhD students. I have also built informal mentoring relationships with graduate students through my supervision of students in Graduate Assistantships. I approach graduate students as collaborators by inviting them to participate in all aspects of my research, including as co-authors. In working with graduate students in any capacity, I demystify higher education and academia, model and discuss how to address self-care and imposter feelings, and support students’ development of healthy and effective work habits. Furthermore, I am conducting research on graduate social work student food and housing insecurity, debt, and stress, that informs national dialogues about graduate student supports. I, therefore, will advocate for policies and procedures in CLAS that support students understanding and effectively navigating their graduate education while remaining well.
Andrew “Drew” Kitchen
Associate Professor, Anthropology
Director of Undergraduate Studies & Curriculum Coordinator
Department of Anthropology
Ph.D., University of Florida
Joined UI Faculty in 2012
Graduate education plays a central role in the dual missions of education and research in R1 institutions, including the University of Iowa. Our graduate students are variously employed as teachers, researchers, and assistants whilst they simultaneously take courses and/or pursue research. Similarly, our graduate programs must balance their roles educating future scholars and professionals, driving faculty and institutional research, and staffing and supporting undergraduate programs. These interconnections, between the roles of students in programs and the roles of programs in the college, create a network of interdependences in which changes to any aspect of a program may reverberate widely through the system. It is imperative that we keep in mind these connections as we consider how to best adapt to the changing environment (professional, intellectual, financial, bureaucratic) we are facing.
It is with full acknowledgement of this situation that I approach a position on the Graduate Education Policy Committee. Since joining the University and College of Liberal Arts & Sciences in 2012, I have served as my department’s Director of Undergraduate Studies, Curriculum Coordinator, and a member of the Graduate Admissions Committee. I have served on multiple collegiate committees, including as an elected member of the Undergraduate Education and Policy Committee, and as a member of a departmental review committee. I have also served as a Faculty Senator. I have, in these roles, seen the central importance of graduate education in the functioning of the College - across disciplines, programs, and departments. As a member of the GEPC, my goal would be to ensure that we maintain, and if possible increase, the effectiveness of our graduate training whilst continuing to satisfy the dual missions of the College at all levels.
AT LARGE CANDIDATE STATEMENTS
Paul Dilley
Erling B. "Jack" Holtsmark Associate Professor in the Classics
Associate Professor, Classics and Religious Studies
PhD, Yale University
Joined UI faculty in 2011
Graduate education is crucial to the mission of the University of Iowa as a publicly engaged research university, and a critical component of teaching excellence. Having served as Director of Graduate Studies in Religious Studies, and now in Classics, I am intimately familiar with the possibilities and challenges of training graduate students in modestly sized humanities departments. Interdisciplinarity is a major strength that has emerged in this environment, and as a member of the CLAS Graduate Education Policy Committee I would work to strengthen it across disciplines and colleges. This includes offering more courses of broad interest, such as the CLAS interdisciplinary humanities seminars, open to students in other colleges; further supporting key credentialing programs such as the Digital Humanities certificate, for which I sit on the advisory committee; and building new ones, such as the Humanities for the Public Good certificate, in which I am also a participant. As Director of the Iowa Initiative for the Scientific Imaging and Conservation of Cultural Artifacts (IISICCA) I have supervised graduate student research across the humanities, library sciences, engineering, and the medical school, and as a member of the CLAS Graduate Educational Policy Committee I would further additional cross-over for graduate education between the humanities, arts, and STEM fields.
I would also advocate for increased support for graduate students in all aspects of their training. In particular, I am in favor of increasing funding for graduate student research and creative work, to help them gain experience for the academic market; and further supporting existing resources for instructional training, as well as creating more possibilities for advanced graduate students to contribute directly to these programs. I would strongly support additional initiatives to prepare students for the non-academic market, especially by identifying more detailed career paths for which students can train from an earlier stage of their graduate programs. Crucially, I want to extend support of diversity, equity, and inclusion for minority and underprivileged groups within graduate education, beginning at the stage of identifying potential applicants, through admission, recruitment, and in-program support. It is also important to remove barriers for international applicants, including difficulties in taking and reporting exams, as well as paying fees. Finally, I am an advocate of graduate student health and mental health, and want to find ways to increase outreach and care in these areas.
Mary C Noonan
Associate Professor, Sociology and Criminology
PhD, University of Michigan
Joined UI Faculty in 2001
Graduate education is central to the University of Iowa’s mission. If elected to the Graduate Educational Policy Committee, I will focus on ways to improve graduate students’ overall experience as students, researchers, and instructors. More specifically, I hope to focus on building support systems, fostering mentorship, and providing professional development opportunities.
I joined the faculty of the University of Iowa in 2001. My main areas of research and teaching are gender, work, family, and statistical methods.
I am a good fit for this position given my extensive experience teaching and mentoring graduate students. While at Iowa, I have chaired six dissertation committees and served as a member on an additional 20 dissertation committees. I regularly teach graduate courses on introductory and advanced statistical methods, as well as gender inequality. My experience on a variety of university- and college-level committees also makes me well-suited for this position; these committees include the CLAS Undergraduate Educational Policy Curriculum Committee, Faculty Assembly, Faculty Senate, and the Council on the Status of Women.
Nathan Platte
Associate Professor, School of Music and Department of Cinematic Arts
Area Head, Musicology
PhD, University of Michigan
Joined UI faculty in 2011
As a musicologist in the School of Music, I serve many graduate students whose academic and professional objectives vary widely. Whether researchers, creative artists, educators, and/or therapists, these students are motivated by different yet complementary learning goals. As a teacher and mentor, it is exciting to support this diversity while also helping illuminate common ground, where students may meaningfully connect and support each other’s work. Such efforts feel especially vital as our graduate students navigate increasingly dynamic and even precarious professional fields. If elected to GEPC, I would draw upon this experience to ensure that my contributions are sensitive to the interrelated challenges and opportunities that graduate students encounter within CLAS.
Since joining the faculty, I have served on over 130 graduate student committees for dissertations, theses, recording projects, comprehensive exams, and recitals. I have designed nine graduate seminars and have taught multiple research methods courses. In addition to serving as an advisor for MA and PhD students, I mentor TAs and serve as a faculty sponsor for a graduate student reading group. In 2023, my colleague and I received a Mellon-funded Humanities for the Public Good grant to design a new graduate seminar in which students partner with local archives and musical organizations to document and amplify their work through collaboratively produced podcasts. I have also served on the Graduate Committee for the School of Music.