Skip to main content
  • Home
  • About
  • Faculty Experts
  • For The Media
  • ’Cuse Conversations Podcast
  • Topics
    • Alumni
    • Events
    • Faculty
    • Students
    • All Topics
  • Contact
  • Submit
Campus & Community
  • All News
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business & Economy
  • Campus & Community
  • Health & Society
  • Media, Law & Policy
  • STEM
  • Veterans
  • University Statements
  • Syracuse University Impact
  • |
  • The Peel
  • Athletics
Sections
  • All News
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business & Economy
  • Campus & Community
  • Health & Society
  • Media, Law & Policy
  • STEM
  • Veterans
  • University Statements
  • Syracuse University Impact
  • |
  • The Peel
  • Athletics
  • Home
  • About
  • Faculty Experts
  • For The Media
  • ’Cuse Conversations Podcast
  • Topics
    • Alumni
    • Events
    • Faculty
    • Students
    • All Topics
  • Contact
  • Submit
Campus & Community

Dean, Faculty and Student Representatives Named to the Board of Trustees

Wednesday, May 8, 2019, By Joyce LaLonde
Share
Board of Trusteesfacultystaff

Chancellor Kent Syverud has named a new dean representative to the Board of Trustees. In addition, the provost, in consultation with the University Senate Academic Affairs Committee, has selected a new faculty representative to the board. Each will serve a two-year term.

Michael Tick, dean of the College of Visual and Performing Arts (VPA), has been named dean representative to the board, and Jamie Winders, professor of geography in the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, has been named faculty representative to the board. Three student representatives to the board have also been named. They are Mackenzie Mertikas ’20, president of the Student Association; Mirjavad Hashemi, Ph.D. student and president of the Graduate Student Organization; and Vishwas Paul ’20, who was elected by the Student Association.

Insights from these representatives of the campus community are vital to the board as it supports the University in achieving its vision and mission.

Dean Michael Tick, Dean Representative

Michael TickTick, who is also a professor of drama, came to Syracuse University in 2016 after serving six years as dean of the College of Fine Arts at the University of Kentucky and 11 years as the chair of the Department of Theatre at Louisiana State University. While at Louisiana State University, he was also the artistic director of Swine Palace, Louisiana’s premiere professional theater company. Tick earned an M.A. in performance studies from Northwestern University and a Ph.D. in theatre education from New York University. He began his professional career working as an actor on the long-running sitcom “M*A*S*H.”

Under Tick’s leadership as dean, the college renovated its Office of Student Success to support expanded services for students, including additional professional academic advisors and new career coaches. In collaboration with the University’s Institute for Veterans and Military Families, he is overseeing a feasibility study to establish graduate online programs in art and music therapies. These programs would be part of a new Department of Creative Arts Therapies.

Tick is a proud member of Actors’ Equity Association and Stage Directors and Choreographers Society. He currently serves as treasurer on the board of directors for the International Council of Fine Arts Deans.

Jamie Winders, Faculty Representative

Jamie WindersWinders is best known for her interdisciplinary work on international migration and contributions to geography’s engagements with race, labor and social reproduction. Winders is editor-in-chief of the International Migration Review and associate editor of cultural geographies. Much of her research focuses on the interactions between changing patterns of immigrant settlement and racial/cultural politics. Winders was a pioneer in the study of new immigrant destinations in a domestic and an international context. She holds a Ph.D. from the University of Kentucky and joined the Syracuse University faculty in 2004.

At Syracuse University, Winders has been involved in a number of interdisciplinary projects in fields from environmental studies and science to landscape studies and art history. She was recently named the director of the Autonomous Systems Policy Institute, which focuses on the technology, policy,and social implications of autonomous systems and their applications. Her teaching and scholarship have been recognized with numerous awards, including the Meredith Teaching Recognition Award, and her research has been funded by the National Science Foundation and Russell Sage, among other sources.

Mackenzie Mertikas ’20, Undergraduate Student Representative

Mackenzie MertikasMertikas is studying public relations in the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications and political science in the College of Arts and Sciences and the Maxwell School. Mertikas, who is from New Jersey, will serve as the president of the Student Association for the 2019-20 academic year.

Mertikas works for the Office of Residence Life, is a brother of Phi Sigma Pi National Honor Fraternity and is the co-chair of the Student Communications Advisory Committee. She previously served on the executive boards of the Traditions Commission and Relay for Life. After completing her degree, Mertikas hopes to work in communications, focusing on public affairs and policy.

Vishwas Paul ’20, Undergraduate Student Representative

Vishwas PaulPaul is studying economics in the College of Arts and Sciences and the Maxwell School, and minoring in psychology in the College of Arts and Sciences and business in the Whitman School. Paul served as the Judicial Review Board chair for the Student Association during his second year on campus. Paul currently serves on the Student Advisory Council to the Division of Enrollment and the Student Experience and is a University student ambassador for University 100.

In Dubai, where Paul grew up, he has worked for several consulting firms. After completing his degree, Paul hopes to work in the field of behavioral economics and investment banking. 

Mirjavad Hashemi, Graduate Student Representative

Mirjavad HashemiHashemi is a third-year Ph.D. candidate in the electrical engineering program in the College of Engineering and Computer Science. Hashemi will serve as the Graduate Student Organization president for the 2019-20 academic year.

For his doctoral work, Hashemi is working under the supervision of Assistant Professor Sara Eftekharnejad. They are investigating power system operation and planning under uncertainty imposed by heavy penetration of renewable energy resources. Before coming to Syracuse, Mirjavad earned a B.S. and M.S. in electrical engineering from Iran University of Science and Technology and Shahid Beheshti University in Tehran, Iran.

 

 

  • Author

Joyce LaLonde

  • Recent
  • Doctoral Candidate Wins Grant for Research on Infrastructure, Violence and Resistance in Pakistan
    Friday, August 1, 2025, By News Staff
  • Co-President of Disability Law Society Eyes Career in National Security Law in Washington
    Thursday, July 31, 2025, By Jordan Bruenger
  • Lender Center New York Event Gathers Wealth Gap Experts
    Wednesday, July 30, 2025, By Diane Stirling
  • After Tragedy, Newhouse Grad Rediscovers Her Voice Through Podcasting
    Wednesday, July 30, 2025, By Chris Velardi
  • Back-to-School Shopping: More Expensive and Less Variety of Back-to-School Items
    Tuesday, July 29, 2025, By Daryl Lovell

More In Campus & Community

Doctoral Candidate Wins Grant for Research on Infrastructure, Violence and Resistance in Pakistan

Bramsh Khan, a Ph.D. candidate in social science in the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, has been awarded a prestigious Wenner-Gren Foundation Dissertation Fieldwork Grant. The Wenner-Gren Foundation, established in 1941, is dedicated to advancing anthropological knowledge throughout…

Co-President of Disability Law Society Eyes Career in National Security Law in Washington

Kaitlin Sommer L’26 is always planning ahead. Throughout her life, she has continuously asked herself, “Is there a better or more efficient way to do this?”, “Am I advocating for what I need?”, “How can I figure this out by…

National Grid Summer College Scholars Program Invests in Energy Literacy

National Grid and Syracuse University’s Office of Pre-College Programs have partnered to inspire the next generation of innovators through the National Grid Summer College Scholars Program. The program will support selected Syracuse City School District high school students for the…

Bowlers Wanted for Faculty and Staff Bowling League

Do you enjoy bowling? Would you like to try bowling? Are you looking for a fun activity with your colleagues? The Syracuse University and SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry (ESF) Faculty and Staff Bowling League is seeking new…

Lender Center New York Event Gathers Wealth Gap Experts

Nearly 30 Syracuse University faculty and postdoctoral researchers and nationally known thought leaders who study the wealth gap in America explored the issue at a recent event in New York City hosted by the Lender Center for Social Justice. The…

Subscribe to SU Today

If you need help with your subscription, contact sunews@syr.edu.

Connect With Us

  • X
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Youtube
  • LinkedIn
Social Media Directory

For the Media

Find an Expert Follow @SyracuseUNews
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Youtube
  • LinkedIn
  • @SyracuseU
  • @SyracuseUNews
  • Social Media Directory
  • Accessibility
  • Privacy
  • Campus Status
  • Syracuse.edu
© 2025 Syracuse University News. All Rights Reserved.