New deans for CAS, CEAT and Graduate College discuss their vision for the future

New deans for CAS, CEAT and Graduate College discuss their vision for the future

Friday, September 13, 2024

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Melinda Cro

College of Arts and Sciences

A digital humanist and early modernist with a Ph.D. in romance languages from the University of Georgia, Dr. Melinda Cro became the first female dean of Oklahoma State University's College of Arts and Sciences in July.

With 15 years of higher-ed teaching and administrative experience - most recently at Kansas State University - Cro now leads OSU's largest college, which includes 24 departments, 650 faculty, 200 staff and nearly 7,000 students.

Cro recently discussed her vision for the college with STATE magazine as she embarks on this new role.

What were some of your first impressions of CAS?

CAS is an incredibly special place, one where the promise of the land-grant institution is fully realized. I recognized that the moment I met with the dean search committee, made up of faculty across the college who were engaged, friendly and a true testament to the ethos of the servant-leader that embodies Oklahoma State's values. It was further cemented when I visited with Provost Jeanette Mendez, President Kayse Shrum and the campus community, including amazing CAS student representatives.

The students were engaged, sharing how their experiences in CAS had shaped them. Each of them evinced the Cowboy Code as we talked about how to support students into the future. CAS brings together a diverse group of people around a shared set of values centering on inclusive collaboration, engagement, and the generation of and access to knowledge focused on improving our communities. I am thrilled to support students, faculty and staff in realizing our mission to become the preeminent land-grant college of arts and sciences in alignment with the university's strategic plan.

How do you see CAS positioning itself within the We Are Land-Grant plan?

This past year, CAS faculty and staff collaborated with leadership to develop the college strategic plan that firmly centers the arts and sciences at the heart of the land-grant institution. The university plan leverages OSU's strengths to address grand challenges. Similarly, our college plan harnesses inherent CAS strengths to prioritize student success, broadly and holistically defined, through dedicated faculty and staff; develop innovative curricula and foundational courses that engage learners in transdisciplinary modes to face the challenges of an increasingly globalized world; advance the research enterprise through increased focus on extramural funding, early career awards, external outreach about our research and an emphasis on transdisciplinary work; and build on the Extension work we are already undertaking to engage more fully with our community.

The We Are Land-Grant plan asks each member of the institution to think about how we can improve and contribute to our community. CAS will serve a critical role in that work by leveraging our resources to build up college readiness across the state, reducing the cost of college while enhancing access; developing ideal graduates positioned to succeed in the workforce of tomorrow; and advancing transdisciplinary research to expand our understanding of the world while designing solutions to our most pressing challenges.

How is CAS helping solve societal challenges?

The beauty of CAS is our three pillars: arts and humanities, social sciences, and math and sciences. If we stay within our pillar area, you can get depth potentially, but we're missing out on the transdisciplinary reality of research and problem-solving.

The big challenges that we face as a society require a multi-pronged approach. If we're not thinking about the full reality of the human experience as we're looking at a problem, it will be very difficult to provide a holistic or effective solution. That's what the land-grant is all about: leveraging our strengths and bringing together our expertise in applied, meaningful ways that will help to make a difference in this world for the better.

How can OSU capitalize on the expansive expertise within CAS?

There is strength in diversity of thought and perspective, and that's what CAS has. Even though an experience in chemistry is going to be different from an experience in modern languages, we come into the room with shared values.

I love President Shrum's focus on ways that the university can leverage its comprehensive resources in a meaningful push toward solving grand challenges because those things are only achievable with the full breadth of the university's resources, including CAS. For any challenge we face, the solution will require the collaboration of groups to understand the context and the human impact. When we're talking about societies and cultures, you need all CAS areas to solve the problem. We are stronger together than we are apart.

Hanchen Huang

Dr. Hanchen Huang visits with College of Engineering, Architecture and Technology students this spring shortly after starting as CEAT dean.

College of Engineering, Architecture and Technology

Dr. Hanchen Huang comes to CEAT with an impressive repertoire of leadership and academic accomplishments.

Previously provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs at the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth and dean of the College of Engineering at the University of North Texas, Huang has been dean of CEAT since April.

STATE magazine sat down with Huang to discuss his view of the college's role in the land-grant landscape.

CEAT encourages interdisciplinary research. How do you believe this can benefit future architects and engineers?

The word "interdisciplinary" is intrinsic to CEAT and characteristic of my educational background, work experience and research. CEAT supports collaborative research and education in engineering, architecture, technology and agriculture. Working with my students and associates, we have crossed multiple disciplinary boundaries - from the discovery of physics that makes nanorods nano in scale, to the invention of metallic glue technology, and to commercialization of this technology through our startup company.

Would you consider your research expertise to be in nuclear or overall mechanical engineering?

While I teach mechanical engineering, my research is in the areas of materials and energy, and my education is in physics and nuclear engineering. Our primary contribution is in the area of nanorods synthesis and mechanics - from atomistic simulations to theories and experiments.

Speaking of research, what are some emerging areas of research grabbing your attention?

At the national level, the synergy of artificial intelligence with engineering represents an umbrella of emerging areas of research. Our report "Additive Manufacturing Trends: Artificial Intelligence Machine Learning" in Advance Materials & Processing 178 (5), 32-33 (2020), for example, summarizes the synergy of artificial intelligence and manufacturing.

Closer to home at OSU, two other areas could emerge based on our core competencies. Energy science and technology can be an area that builds on the existing strength of our Hamm Institute for American Energy. Manufacturing engineering of agriculture products can be another area that integrates the A and M in our system name, OSU A&M.

Why are CEAT students and graduates so important to the Oklahoma workforce?

With about 3,000 job openings in engineering and technology and 1,500 graduates each year in Oklahoma, OSU, as a land-grant university, has an obligation to graduate more engineers and technologists. Being the M in OSU A&M, engineering (as well as architecture and technology) is in the DNA of OSU. The education of students and professionals through CEAT at OSU, a top-tier (R1) university, is forward-looking and meets society's needs now and in the future.

With a goal of faculty recruitment and retention, what changes would you like to see within CEAT and OSU?

One, I would like to promote preemptive retention and develop a stronger sense of faculty and staff belonging through engagement among faculty and staff. Two, I would like to promote proactive recruiting to form clusters of well-established faculties.

How can CEAT assist Oklahoma and society as a whole in the following priority areas?

1. Innovating to Nourish the World
2. Leading in Aerospace Innovation and
3. Application Enhancing Human and Animal Health (One Health)
4. Powering a Growing World Population Sustainably and Responsibly

CEAT is so well positioned in all four areas. In particular, CEAT is a leader in aerospace development and applications as well as in innovation and has the technical expertise to lead energy research and education for a sustainable world. Further, with expertise in bioengineering and engineering analytics, CEAT is in a great position to collaborate with health sciences to enhance human and animal health. Overall, our strategy is to raise the standing of engineering, architecture and technology to elevate OSU.

Melanie Morgan

Dr. Melanie Morgan works with a student.

Graduate College

Dr. Melanie Morgan started as the new Oklahoma State University Graduate College dean in July.

Morgan has served as professor and associate dean of the Graduate School at Purdue University since 2018.

She also previously served Purdue as director of Graduate Studies in the Brian Lamb School of Communication (2014-18) and director of the Oral Communication Curriculum Program (2001-18) and held a previous appointment as an assistant professor in the Department of Communication at the University of Louisville (1998-2001).

Morgan discussed her new role with STATE magazine.

How is OSU's Graduate College working to elevate the land-grant mission as a university?

I was attracted to the opportunity to lead the Graduate College at Oklahoma State because of the strategic vision emphasizing the land-grant mission. The Graduate College is working to enhance this mission in several ways. First, the college is participating in a National Science Foundation Grant, "Broadening Participation in STEM Graduate Degrees." This award will refine and improve the ways we recruit students to graduate programs, increasing access to programs. Second, the Graduate College is engaged in a national workforce development program, Accelerate to Industry (A2i), which works with industry partners in Oklahoma to prepare graduate students and postdocs for industry positions after graduation. This program builds upon the Graduate College's 360˚ Critical Skills for Career Success Professional Development Program to ensure graduates are industry ready. Additionally, new articulation agreements with Stillwater and Tulsa will provide access to accelerated master's degrees, dual degrees, and Professional Science Master's degrees helping to prepare our future workforce here in the state.

What are some opportunities for growth in OSU's Graduate College?

One tenant of the land-grant mission that I fully support and embrace is access. While OSU already provides opportunities for its students to participate in graduate education, there are additional and creative ways to make graduate education even more accessible. I'd like to explore these and build upon them so that post-graduate opportunities are available to everyone.

Creative interdisciplinary degrees, dual degrees, and other types of credentialling provide additional opportunities for graduate students to build successful research programs and equip them with the skills to solve complex problems. OSU has recently expanded these opportunities, and I'd like to see these continue to grow and flourish.

Graduate school is a rigorous experience requiring students to persevere during some challenging moments. OSU has some terrific support mechanisms in place to help graduate students succeed and we can build on these programs to make sure students are well-supported during their graduate school experience so that we can attract and retain the best students.

What role does the Graduate College play for OSU and its students?

The Graduate College is the voice and the advocate for graduate education. Most of the attention and resources at universities like OSU are undergraduate-focused and the graduate perspective is sometimes secondary. The Graduate College has an important role to ensure that the graduate experience does not get lost and best practices are being followed across campus.

The Graduate College is the administrative center for graduate student education. We admit students and support them on their journey through graduation. We support the day-to-day functioning of the graduate school experience and make sure students get registered, are on track and graduate on time.

How does the OSU Graduate College prepare students to become ideal graduates?

While the Graduate College does many things to help prepare students to become ideal graduates, I'd like to focus on 360° Critical Skills for Career Success. This program goes beyond the technical and discipline-specific knowledge a graduate student learns in the home department to prepare them for success after graduate school. Students can choose training across six skill areas including research, communication, teaching, leadership, management and leadership. Through workshops and hands-on experiences, students work to build competencies in these areas. These skills equip our students to serve their communities with compassion and make important impacts in their lives and in others.

What are some of your passions and how do you plan to incorporate those into the OSU Graduate College?

One of my passions is graduate student mentoring. Graduate education is built on an apprentice model where a seasoned faculty member mentors an emerging scholar to develop the student's research expertise. The mentoring relationship between a faculty member and a student is an important one. The quality of the mentoring relationship is a strong predictor of student success in graduate school. However, mentoring in a one-on-one relational model can often be tricky. Faculty and graduate students need resources to excel in these roles and I plan to build on the resources already established at OSU to enhance mentoring training programs and resources to assist faculty and graduate students in navigating this important relationship.

I am also passionate about opportunities for graduate students to expand their skill sets and engage in impactful research. Graduate students are the engine that powers our research mission at an institution like Oklahoma State. The more opportunities and the better-resourced graduate students are, the more they can accomplish to move our research agenda forward. I aim to partner with the Division of the Vice President for Research and the academic colleges to create more opportunities for graduate student research and avenues to showcase their contribution to the research mission.

Photos by: Gary Lawson, Ellie Piper and Jason Wallace

Story by: Elizabeth Gosney, Desa James and Page Mindedahl | STATE Magazine

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