|
|
Q&A with new dean of College of Health Science and Human Service |
| By
Jim Winkler |
|
Aug 25, 2008
|
|
 |
| Schmoll |
Dr. Beverly J. Schmoll officially became dean of UT’s College of Health Science and Human Service July 1.
The new dean comes to UT from Wayne State University in Detroit, where she was dean of the Eugene Applebaum College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences and a professor of physical therapy for seven years. Before that, she held a number of top leadership posts at the University of Michigan-Flint.
She earned a PhD in administration and higher education from Michigan State University and a master’s degree in human development and relationships from Wayne State University.
Recently, Schmoll talked about her plans for the college that offers 42 degrees in areas such as counselor education and school psychology, criminal justice, health and rehabilitative services, health professions, kinesiology, military science, occupational therapy, physical therapy, physician assistant studies, social work, and undergraduate legal specialties.
What attracted you to the post of dean of the College of Health Science and Human Service?
Originally, I did not apply for the position. I was contacted by the search consultant whose path I had crossed at another time in my career. She really did a good job. I told her that I really wasn’t interested in another position. She said, referring to the UT position, “I think this would be a very good match for you” and then she explained the circumstances and so I thought, “That’s actually rather intriguing.” So what ended up attracting me to the position is that we have a merger of two units that now need to be unified into one college and [are] in the process of that actually creating a new college culture. Usually when you take these kinds of positions, you inherit the culture. It’s not that you can’t have some influence on it, but because of the circumstances we are in I can work with the faculty to establish our unique culture, which will not be the previous UT or that of the Medical University of Ohio, but will be ours.
What are your immediate priorities as dean?
There is a lot on my to-do list. The unifying of the colleges is on the top of that list. I’ve been meeting with our department chairs and I think they concur and know that needs to happen now. In order to do that, we’ve been talking about people, processes, policies and operations, everything we do.
Right now, we have nine-month faculty and 12-month faculty. Some are in the labor unit, some are not. A whole different set of processes are used on Health Science Campus compared to Main Campus. It’s all different; for example, the timeline for promotion and tenure. We are going to have only one set that the college will use. We have to start addressing those kinds of things, and we will do them gradually.
In addition, we need to build our alumni affiliate group and be more engaged in a variety of alumni activities. We have a very small core now, and while they have merged the alumni groups into one, we still have identity issues and need to work with them and reach out. Also, while there have been some activities in the area of development, [they have] been pretty minimal for this college, so there will be a big thrust on my part on that as well. At Wayne State, I raised several million dollars, and so I come with some experience.
The college also is the home of the National Center for Parents, which is now starting to get off the ground. I will be working with them and help them reach the next level of development in terms of visibility and deliverables. The mission of the center is to be a source of information for parents and ultimately to develop white papers that can be used by policy- and decision-makers. They are now just finishing a paper on cyberbullying, which is very timely. It can be used by the legislature, school principals, school boards and any number of other people who deal with the issue. Plus, it will have all kinds of wonderful advice and counsel for parents on things they can do. It is not about delivering programs, but taking on serious issues. Ultimately, the center hopes it will be able to not just involve faculty as they did in this project, but also undergraduate students, so they will be able to work with faculty, conduct research and work as interdisciplinary teams. I think the college has a lot of opportunities for community engagement because we have so many clinical programs We want to look at ways so that we are not only of service to the community, but our activities benefit students and allow our faculty to produce scholarly work as well.
How would you describe your leadership style?
It is very participatory. I’m a strong advocate of Robert Greenleaf and being a first among equals and the whole notion of service leadership. I’m here to serve. That’s my reason for being here, to serve others. So, as I was describing before, my job is to help support the efforts of the faculty, staff and students in the college and enable them to become all they can be.
Outside work, what do you do to relax?
I love to do crossword and sudoko puzzles. I’m absolutely hooked. I have huge books of them and that’s how I wind down. I have to have my puzzle fix every day. I love to read biographies, autobiographies and mystery novels. I love to go walking because it’s a wonderful way to be outdoors. I try to golf and I’m the world’s worst, but again, it nice to be outdoors. In the winter, I like to snowshoe and go places you cannot go by foot. I also enjoy entertaining and being with family and friends.
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
