Vice Chancellor and Provost Michele G. Wheatly has announced the appointments of Mary Graham and Kira Kristal Reed to serve as Provost Faculty Fellows. Graham is a professor of sport management in the David B. Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamics. Reed is an associate professor of management in the Martin J. Whitman School of Management.
Mary Eileen Graham
Graham, who earned her Ph.D. from the School of Industrial and Labor Relations at Cornell University, began her appointment July 1 and will continue in it through June 30, 2019. In her new capacity, she will focus on working with the University Senate on behalf of the Provost’s Office to implement campus-wide shared competencies.
Reed, who earned a Ph.D. in management from University of Connecticut, assumed her new role June 1 and will continue in it through May 31, 2019. She will help lead efforts to develop a new approach to the first-year student experience, working in collaboration with the First Year Experience Initiative Steering Committee and a variety of faculty and administrators.
“The implementation of University-wide shared competencies and the development of a dynamic, community-building first-year experience both tie directly to our capacity to deliver a world-class student experience,” says Provost Wheatly. “Mary Graham and Kira Reed have the skills and the enthusiasm needed to advance both initiatives in a way that is both efficient and deeply collaborative. I know they are going to be a great asset to this effort, and I look forward to working with them in the months ahead.”
Kira Reed
Development and implementation of shared competencies emerged as a key priority in both the Academic Strategic Plan and the Middle States reaccreditation process. It is designed to ensure that all undergraduate students, regardless of major or school/college affiliation, graduate with a defined set of competencies, including four reasoning skills and four demonstrated abilities. Graham will consult and communicate with deans, associate deans, faculty, and students to further develop and finalize the shared competencies model for implementation in 2019. She also will work in collaboration with the University Senate Ad Hoc Committee on Shared Competencies and other key administrators.
“I am honored to be chosen as a Provost Faculty Fellow at such an exciting, forward-looking time for the University,” Graham says. “It is inspiring that all of the administrators, faculty, staff and students whom I have spoken with so far—and there will be many more—share the goal of enhancing the undergraduate learning experience at Syracuse University.”
A member of the Falk College faculty since 2012, Graham previously served on the faculty at Georgia State University, George Washington University, and Clarkson University, where she was a Newell Faculty Fellow. She has published extensively in the areas of human resource management, public policy and employment discrimination, and gender in employment. Graham is currently on the editorial board of the journal Human Resource Management, where she previously served as an associate editor. She has served as a visiting scholar at National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, National Central University, and at the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta.
Reed’s appointment supports the University’s commitment to develop a shared first-year experience that builds connections, promotes health and wellness, and fosters a respectful and inclusive campus community. Reed currently co-chairs the First-Year Experience Initiative Steering Committee along with Amanda Nicholson, assistant provost and dean of student success. In that capacity Reed has helped lead efforts to develop a University-wide, long-term and course-based first-year experience, and with implementing a professional development program to assist faculty in fostering a more culturally inclusive classroom. As Provost Faculty Fellow, she will collaborate with the Academic Affairs leadership team as well as with other administrators, faculty, and academic leaders across campus.
“We know that a student’s first year on campus strongly correlates with whether that student stays in school and thrives academically,” Reed says. “We are making good progress toward designing a shared first-year experience that supports student success, fosters connections across difference and advances our goal of maintaining a welcoming, safe and respectful campus environment for all. I am grateful for this appointment and for the opportunity it provides to bring that work to completion.”
Reed has been a member of the management faculty at the Whitman School since 2001. She had a previous faculty appointment at Iowa State University. She has authored numerous peer-reviewed publications and currently sits on the editorial boards of the Journal of Managerial Issues and Africa Journal of Management. She has been a leader in the Academy of Management as the division chair of the public and nonprofit division, and she currently chairs the Masters Board at Whitman and the Curricula Committee of the University Senate.
