Meet Your New Graduate School Dean: Dr. Rose Marie Ward

When I ask new Graduate School Dean Rose Marie Ward what her vision is for graduate education at UC, she just chuckles. “I want to push back on that a little bit,” she says. “As I see it, one of my primary tasks is to help generate a shared vision.”  

Throughout our interview, this emphasis on student voice and experience is easily apparent. And it makes sense; Dean Ward has been actively involved in graduate education for more than a decade, holding a variety of roles at Miami University (Ohio) including director of the Center for Teaching Excellence, associate dean of the graduate school, and interim associate provost. Dean Ward has also received accolades for her teaching and research in college student alcohol consumption. She clearly cares deeply about the wellbeing of all students, and as she explains, this passion is part of what brought her to UC.  

“The reputation [of UC] alone is impressive,” she explains. “But that’s not what attracted me. It’s really that opportunity to be a part of [a university] that is really on the verge of opening the door to graduate education for people who haven’t traditionally had access. I can already feel the energy, it’s like, let’s look at the policies, let’s look at the procedures; how do we build that environment?” Dean Ward explains that she is not only excited to open the door for underrepresented students but also foster an environment where they can thrive during their educational journey, even envisioning support that stretches beyond the confines of UC. “[We are] thinking about all of the ways that we can continually have our graduates’ feedback and help us be better for the students that are here, while we’re also helping them.”  

Continuing our discussion of college access, Dean Ward goes on to explain what she calls a “hidden curriculum.” Essentially, within higher education there are unwritten and implicit rules, expectations, and lessons that are more readily available to students from privileged backgrounds or those with college-educated parents. Think of things like office hours, student/faculty relationship etiquette, or financial aid processes. “What we see is that parents who had graduate degrees tend to have kids that have graduate degrees and we kind of just make this elite pathway. And, so, one of the challenges is how do we unpackage some of that hidden curriculum and build structures for mentoring and professional development?” says Ward.  

Fortunately, Dean Ward’s role is built on the foundation of advocating for students and making them feel comfortable at UC. I ask her to explain what a Graduate School Dean does and how she sees her role within the larger university context. “I’m a connector,” she tells me. Since graduate students tend to be somewhat siloed within their specific programs, Dean Ward and the Graduate School staff can provide opportunities for students to connect with one another more broadly and develop a sense of campus community across programs. Additionally, Dean Ward sees herself as a mouthpiece of sorts for the needs of the graduate student body within the larger administration. “The Graduate Dean says, ‘hold up, let me remind you, our students are older. Let me remind you, more of our students are international students. Let me remind you, more of our students are parents than the undergrads. And so the experience is different,’” she tells me emphatically.

In addition to her professional and academic pursuits, Dean Ward lives an active and fulfilling personal life, full of hobbies and enjoyment. “I love to read,” she tells me. “There is never a time that I am not in between three or four different books." At current, Dean Ward is reading White Rage: the Unspoken Truth of Our Racial Divide, Behind the Diversity Numbers: Achieving Racial Equity on Campus, Internet Celebrity: Understanding Fame Online, and The New PhD: How to Build a Better Graduate Education. She enjoys fiction as well, particularly science fiction and fantasy authors such as NK Jemison and Andy Weir. “I also have a really bad cookbook habit,” she adds. “But I read them like they are textbooks. I just got one on French patisserie that I just started reading.”