Shelley Lucas and Cara Gallegos have been named as the first associate deans in residence for the Graduate College. In their positions, they will lead initiatives to improve graduate student mentoring and advising at Boise State.
Lucas will begin her appointment this spring, focusing on best practices for graduate student thesis and dissertation advising. An associate professor in the Department of Kinesiology, Lucas has served as the graduate program coordinator for the past 10 years, where she has gained considerable experience working with graduate students.
Gallegos, who is in the School of Nursing, served as an education specialist before joining Boise State. She has been involved in developing resources and workshops to train nurses how to be mentors. Gallegos will begin with the Graduate College in summer 2018, where she will spearhead an initiative focusing on best practices for graduate student mentoring and advising.
“We are pleased to have Shelly and Cara joining the Graduate College team,” said Tammi Vacha-Haase, dean of the Graduate College. “The insights and skill sets these two faculty members bring will be invaluable in continuing to advance advising and mentoring at the graduate level. Both initiatives are an important next step to continuing to positively impact graduate education at Boise State University.”
Each year the Graduate College invites applications for the position of associate dean in residence, where faculty join the Graduate College for up to three semesters. The goals of this initiative include bringing graduate faculty expertise and insight into the Graduate College to work on projects in identified areas, building and sustaining close relationships between the Graduate College and the departments and programs we serve, and providing an opportunity for graduate faculty to serve in a leadership position at Boise State University. This year’s focus was on advising and mentoring. Possible areas of attention in the future may include diversity and inclusion, increasing scholarship and external funding, improving recruitment/retention/progression/completion efforts, expanding interdisciplinary collaborations, assisting students with exploring potential career opportunities outside of academia, or professional conduct and behavior, all of which are expected to focus explicitly on graduate education at Boise State University.