Muleskinner

Issue date: 12/7/06 Section: News

Novella Perrin

Dean emeritus of UCM's Graduate School, Novella Perrin said the best advice she can give to the next dean of the graduate school is to always remember that the students come first.

From 2001 to 2005, Perrin headed the graduate school, making some changes along the way.

Before retiring, Perrin had been with the University for 32 years.
"We do some things differently now," she said. "We added graduate commencement, and I think that has been well-received by students because they get more recognition.

"Another thing that we've done is that we've improved the Human Subjects Review process and added a graduate faculty-status consultant.

But Perrin said the thing she was most proud of during her time as dean was to make good hires.

"The people that have worked for me have done a great job," Perrin sid.

While Perrin, who was the former director of the Gerontology Institute and coordinator of the social gerontology program, said she is not going to completely retire, she is likely done at UCM, but will continue to work on gerontology related issues.
Perrin said the best memories she has from the time she spent at UCM came from the people she worked with along the way.

"It's definitely been the people," Perrin said. "When I came here 32 years ago, there was a much smaller faculty, and we were very close; I've been fortunate to keep those close ties with really good friends and make new friends."

The UCM Graduate School has become a prominent part of the University while under her direction said David Kreiner, professor of psychology and associate dean of the Graduate School.

According to Kreiner, Perrin was able to make major accomplishments during her time at Central.

"She got all of our processes running smoothly," Kreiner said. "By processes, I mean things like admitting graduate students and checking students for graduation. She was able to get all of those processes worked out so we don't have students waiting a long time to hear something back from us.

"With me, she was very supportive and taught me a lot of things and really made it rewarding for me to work in the Graduate School," Kreiner said.

Once she was appointed dean, Perrin focused on moving the school in a positive direction.

Kreiner, who has been with the Graduate School for four years, was able to see first-hand the impact that Perrin's leadership had on the school.

"One of her big [areas of] emphasis was to make sure the Graduate School became more prominent, and I think she achieved that," Kreiner said.

"We use to be kind of an afterthought, and people didn't really think about graduate programs here at Central. She was able to change that, and I think we are going to continue in that direction of people being more aware of graduate education at the University."

Provost Y.T. Shaw appointed Joe Vaughn, department chair of the criminal justice department, to the interim position of dean of the Graduate School and research, which he started Dec. 1.
Vaughn said his new position has a "broad spectrum of responsibilities" and that he is still sorting through everything.

"I will be overseeing all graduate programs, sponsored research, Workshop on Wheels and the Institution Review Board for Human Rights," Vaughn said.

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