Elizabeth Mayer-Davis

Beth Mayer-Davis

Dean of The Graduate School

mayerdav@email.unc.edu, (919) 962-7791
Bynum Hall, Room 214-A

Elizabeth “Beth” Mayer-Davis, Ph.D., RD, is the dean of The Graduate School and the Cary C. Boshamer Distinguished Professor of Nutrition and Medicine. She has focused her career on diabetes, including the epidemiology and natural history of type 1 and type 2 diabetes in children and adults. She has served as dean of The Graduate School since fall 2022.

Meet Dean Beth Mayer-Davis

No photo available

Krupal Amin

Director of Academic Affairs

kamin@unc.edu
Bynum Hall, Room 219

Ally training: Mental Health First Aid, UndocuCarolina, Safe Zone, Green Zone

Krupal Amin is the inaugural director of academic affairs for The Graduate School. She is responsible for supporting academic initiatives and providing support to graduate students and faculty on academic related inquiries (e.g., new degree and certificate requests, curricular revisions, routine academic petitions, milestones). She works in partnership with others in The Graduate School, such as the Director of Student Affairs and the Admissions/Enrolled Student Services team, to support graduate student success.

Prior to joining the graduate school, Amin supported the Asian American Center at Carolina as the associate director. She has also taught at The North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics, where she taught American Studies, CRT, and WGSS and served as American Studies Coordinator. She received her undergraduate degree in English and Comparative Literature at UNC-Chapel Hill, a master's degree in English literature from UNC-Charlotte, and a Ph.D. in English literature at The Ohio State University. Her research focuses on 20th and 21st century U.S. multiethnic literatures, specifically the bildungsroman in Asian American and African American literatures, and race and ethnic studies.

Renata Buchanan

Renata Buchanan

Admissions and Enrolled Students Specialist

Supporting: School of Government, Kenan-Flagler Business School (PhD), School of Data Science, and Gillings School of Global Public Health MPH@UNC

rcbuchan@email.unc.edu, (919) 962-7783
Bynum Hall, Room 205

Ally training: Green Zone, HAVEN

Renata Buchanan serves as the first line of contact providing information and administrative assistance for applicants, students and staff members in the programs listed above; administers admissions applications, enrollment, registration and graduation; provides information on state-centralized residency application process.

Vanessa Doriott Anderson

Vanessa Doriott Anderson

Assistant Dean for Academic and Career Development

vkda@unc.edu, (919) 962-7797
Graduate Student Center, Room 101

Ally training: HAVEN, Mental Health First Aid

In her role as Assistant Dean for Academic and Career Development, Vanessa Doriott Anderson leads workshops and teaches courses that develop students’ ability to build their professional brand, communicate their value, and pursue their chosen career. Doriott Anderson manages the Graduate Student Center; the Graduate Certificate in Innovation, Leadership and Management (GCILM); the annual Three Minute Thesis competition; the Graduate School Professional Development Advisory Council; and the bimonthly newsletter reaching over 12,000 subscribers. She also works directly with students, faculty, staff, and other stakeholders to promote equitable and inclusive graduate student success.

Doriott Anderson has previously worked with graduate students at NC State and Duke Universities and was a faculty member in French. She received her B.A. from Macalester College, her M.A. from the University of Minnesota—Twin Cities, and her Ph.D. from Duke University. She is a member of the Graduate Career Consortium (GCC). Her academic specialization in twentieth-century autobiography informs her work with graduate students who seek to shape their many varied skills and experiences into a coherent professional narrative.

John Easterbrook

John Easterbrook

Executive Director of Strategic Initiatives

john.easterbrook@unc.edu, (919) 962-7790
Bynum Hall, Room 214

John Easterbrook, Ph.D., joined The Graduate School in April 2023 to develop and implement strategic initiatives designed to advance the vision and mission of The Graduate School. As executive director of strategic initiatives, Easterbrook advocates for and supports graduate and professional students at Carolina. As a member of The Graduate School's leadership team, Easterbrook collaborates with faculty and administrators across campus, and he provides expert leadership in strategy and project management to inform new strategic directions for the School. As part of The Graduate School's strategic planning process under Dean Beth Mayer-Davis, Easterbrook also oversees strategic initiative work as part of the School's three-year strategic plan, Building on Excellence, which launched in fall 2023.

Easterbrook previously served as the managing director of the UNC Nutrition Obesity Research Center (NORC), where he worked alongside Mayer-Davis, the former chair of the Department of Nutrition at the Gillings School of Global Public Health. Prior to Carolina, Easterbrook spent three years as an assistant professor with the English Department at California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo, where he taught undergraduate and graduate courses in early Anglo-American writing from the sixteenth through the eighteenth century.

During his time at the UNC NORC, Easterbrook oversaw the daily administration and operations of the multidisciplinary center with more than 130 members across 39 departments and divisions at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. In addition to managing its annual $1.2 million budget to ensure resource allocation in support of strategic priorities, he led the proposal development process for large-scale initiatives such as SPLENDOR-NC and the Nutrition for Precision Health Clinical Center at Carolina — all of which supported UNC-Chapel Hill's mission to conduct world-class research.

Easterbrook received his B.A. from Manhattan College and both his M.A. and Ph.D. from New York University.

Rhonda Ethridge

Rhonda Ethridge

Business Services Coordinator

rhondae@email.unc.edu, (919) 962-7772
Bynum Hall, Room 200

Ally training: Green Zone

Rhonda Ethridge provides information to prospective applicants, currently enrolled students, visitors, and faculty and staff members of the campus community; provides accounting and administrative support for The Graduate School.

Pam Frome

Pam Frome

Research Associate for Graduate Education Studies

frome@unc.edu, (919) 843-8611
Henry Owl Building, Room 306

Ally training: Green Zone, HAVEN

Pam Frome conducts research and tracks data related to graduate students and graduate education.

Jessica Gortner

Jessica Gortner

Executive Director, Communications

jgortner@unc.edu, (919) 962-7788
Bynum Hall, Room 213

As a mission-driven marketer, communicator, strategist, and storyteller, Jessica Gortner brings over 23 years of marketing and communications expertise to The Graduate School's leadership team.

She leads the School's marketing and communications architecture including owned and earned media strategy, brand strategy, strategic communications, thought leadership, and development efforts.

A first-generation college graduate, Gortner is passionate about the transformative power of education. In addition to an agency/consulting background, her 15 years of higher ed experience—as an on-campus marketing leader (both at large public and small private institutions) and as the content strategy lead for higher ed brands across the country—have taught her to successfully blend academia and business to deliver meaningful results.

Gortner received her undergraduate degree in marketing, management, and international business from Illinois State University and her MBA from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

No photo available

Chris Harris

Admissions and Enrolled Students Specialist

Supporting: College of Arts and Sciences- Natural Sciences and Mathematics and School of Dentistry

harriscr@email.unc.edu, (919) 962-7780
Bynum Hall, Room 205

Ally training: Green Zone

Chris Harris serves as the first line of contact providing information and administrative assistance for applicants, students and staff members in the programs listed above; administers admissions applications, enrollment, registration and graduation; provides information on state-centralized residency application process.

Sarah Jacobson

Sarah Jacobson

Assistant Dean, Admissions and Enrolled Students

sjacobson@unc.edu, (919) 962-7779
Bynum Hall, Room 204

Ally training: Green Zone

Sarah Jacobson manages the office of admissions and enrolled students services, and serves as ETD Site Administrator, providing statistical information and responses to inquiries regarding admission, enrolled student services and graduation.

Ronice Johnson-Guy

Ronice Johnson-Guy

Assistant Director, Diversity and Student Success

ronicej@unc.edu, (919) 962-7812
Graduate Student Center, Room 202

Ally training: HAVEN

Ronice Johnson-Guy serves as the Assistant Director of Diversity and Student Success. She has 20 years of higher education success in admissions, advising, study abroad, and international student and scholar services. She is passionate about Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging initiatives and partnerships related to enrollment efforts to attract, retain and support underrepresented graduate scholars.

Stephanie Johnston

Stephanie Johnston

Functional Data Analyst

sjohnst@email.unc.edu
Henry Owl Building, Room 306

Ally training: Mental Health First Aid, Safe Zone, Green Zone, HAVEN

In her role as functional data analyst, Stephanie Johnston is responsible for the collection, analysis, and reporting of academic data of graduate education at UNC-Chapel Hill. The focus of her work is to quantitatively identify and reveal trends, strengths, and weaknesses in the practice of graduate education in support of data-driven decision making.

Johnston works on research projects involving institutional data collection through student, alumni, and faculty surveys, conducts quantitative analysis of longitudinal institutional data, designs data visualization shared with both internal and external stakeholders, creates written reports in support of academic program review studies, conducts data reporting to external funding agency, and responds to ad hoc data analysis requests related to graduate education.

Kim Kuecker

Kim Kuecker

Program Coordinator, Diversity and Student Success

Kimberli.Kuecker@unc.edu, (919) 962-7824
Graduate Student Center, Room 204

Ally training: Mental Health First Aid, Safe Zone

Kim Kuecker supports the Diversity and Student Success Program. Areas of responsibility include event management, program management, and working with financial awards to students. Kuecker updates the DSS website, creates invitations, events and newsletters, and collaborates with the communications team.

Laura Kuizin

Laura Kuizin

Director, Masters of Applied Professional Studies

lkuizin@unc.edu, (919) 962-7814
Graduate Student Center, Room 103

Ally training: Carolina F1RSTS Advocate, Mental Health First Aid, UndocuCarolina, Green Zone, Safe Zone

In her role as director of the Master of Applied Professional Studies program, Laura Kuizin develops, directs, and manages all programmatic functions of the interdisciplinary studies degree program including admissions, registration, and advisement of students as well as oversight for a core curriculum. Kuizin is also responsible for monitoring academic degree milestones, budgeting and fiscal management, as well as program assessment and marketing.

No photo available

Betty Lewis

Admissions and Enrolled Students Specialist

Supporting: College of Arts and Sciences- Social Sciences, School of Information and Library Science, School of Social Work, and Professional Science Masters in Biomedical and Health Informatics and Digital Curation

bhaggert@email.unc.edu, (919) 962-7782
Bynum Hall, Room 205

Betty Lewis serves as the first line of contact providing information and administrative assistance for applicants, students and staff members in the programs listed above; administers admissions applications, enrollment, registration and graduation; provides information on state-centralized residency application process.

Faye Lewis

Faye Lewis

Executive Assistant to the Dean

flewis@email.unc.edu, (919) 962-7789
Bynum Hall, Room 214

Ally training: Green Zone, HAVEN

Faye Lewis is the primary administrative support for the dean of The Graduate School. This position oversees the dean's calendar as well as creates correspondence on the dean's behalf as needed. She is the primary contact for questions related to the dean's participation in numerous internal and external activities.

Jenny Lewis

Jenny Lewis

Admissions and Enrolled Students Specialist

Supporting: College of Arts and Sciences- Fine Arts and Humanities, School of Education, Hussman School of Journalism and Media, and the Master of Applied Professional Studies

lewis923@email.unc.edu, (919) 962-7784
Bynum Hall, Room 205

Ally training: Mental Health First Aid, UndocuCarolina, Green Zone, HAVEN

Jenny Lewis serves as the first line of contact providing information and administrative assistance for applicants, students and staff members in the programs listed above; administers admissions applications, enrollment, registration and graduation; provides information on state-centralized residency application process.

Kate McAnulty

Kate McAnulty

Senior Associate Dean, Student Affairs

kmcanulty@unc.edu, (919) 962-7774
Bynum Hall, Room 203

Ally training: Green Zone, HAVEN

Kate McAnulty, senior associate dean for student affairs, is responsible for overseeing and supporting the overall graduate student experience. McAnulty coordinates award processes and campus-wide events promoting graduate student achievement and wellbeing, including Orientation, Wellness events, Appreciation Week, and the Doctoral Hooding Ceremony; and directs a variety of graduate student support services and student affairs issues.

Kyle Miller

Kyle Miller

Accounting Technician

kjmiller@unc.edu, (919) 962-7814
Bynum Hall, Room 200-A

Ally training: Safe Zone

Kyle Miller is a part of the Finance and Operations team in The Graduate School. He is responsible for account reconciliation, transaction review and approval, and assisting with the establishment of budgets. Additionally, he provides monthly, annual, and ad hoc reporting for various departments within the school.

Abby Mitcham

Abby Mitcham

Admissions and Enrolled Students Specialist

Supporting: Gillings School of Global Public Health-all programs except MPH@UNC

amitcham@email.unc.edu, (919) 962-7781
Bynum Hall, Room 205

Ally training: Mental Health First Aid, Safe Zone, HAVEN, UndocuCarolina, Green Zone

Abby Mitcham serves as the first line of contact providing information and administrative assistance for applicants, students and staff members in the programs listed above; administers admissions applications, enrollment, registration and graduation; provides information on state-centralized residency application process.

Julie Montaigne

Julie Montaigne

Director, Fellowships Office

julie_montaigne@unc.edu, (919) 962-7798
Bynum Hall, Room 200-B

Ally training: Mental Health First Aid, Green Zone, Carolina F1RSTS Advocate, HAVEN

Julie Montaigne coordinates internal and external fellowship support, including funding initiatives and The Graduate School fellowship review process and processes payments of tuition, grants and fellowships.

Kate Moser

Kate Moser

Associate Dean for Development

katemoser@unc.edu, (919) 843-8393
Bynum Hall, Room 216

Kate Moser is the associate dean for development and alumni relations and leads The Graduate School's overall advancement efforts. In this role, she works to engage alumni and friends in the life of The Graduate School and secure resources critical to the School's mission.

Lou Anne Phelps

Lou Anne Phelps

Program Review and Student Services Coordinator

laphelps@email.unc.edu, (919) 962-7804
Bynum Hall, Room 218

Ally training: Green Zone

Lou Anne Phelps assists with scheduling student services, such as the foreign language proficiency assessment and GRAD professional development courses, assists with revising publications, coordinating workshops, scheduling academic program reviews, and special projects and maintains The Graduate School's departmental Contact Directory.

Laura Pratt

Laura Pratt

Fellowships Engagement and CareerWell Manager

lepratt@email.unc.edu, (919) 962-7806
Bynum Hall, Room 218

Ally training: Mental Health First Aid, Safe Zone, Green Zone, HAVEN, UndocuCarolina, Carolina F1RSTS Advocate

Laura Pratt is responsible for planning and implementing various activities and events, managing student services and information, and communicating with programs, students and alumni as relates to The Graduate School’s interdisciplinary fellowship programs. These fellowship programs include the Royster Society of Fellows, the Weiss Urban Livability Program, and the National Science Foundation grant recipients. She manages annual student assessments as well as student and program data. She earned a B.A. from UNC Charlotte and an M.A. in Higher Education Administration from Georgia Southern University.

Allis Rodelli

Allis Rodelli

Graduate Funding Coordinator

arodelli@email.unc.edu, (919) 962-7773
Bynum Hall, Room 200-C

Ally training: HAVEN

Allis Rodelli manages student funding for current fellows, the GradStar system, GSHIP, and other financial tasks related to students.

Alicia Rogers

Alicia Rogers

Director, Human Resources

alicia_rogers@unc.edu, (919) 962-7787
Bynum Hall, Room 209

Ally training: Mental Health First Aid, Green Zone, HAVEN

Alicia Rogers directs the overall provision of human resources services and policies for The Graduate School.

No photo available

Shaun Rutherford

Admissions and Enrolled Students Specialist

Supporting: School of Medicine, School of Nursing, College of Arts and Sciences-Exercise and Sport Science, Eshelman School of Pharmacy, and Professional Science Masters in Toxicology

srutherford@unc.edu, (919) 962-7785
Bynum Hall, Room 205

Ally training: Mental Health First Aid, Green Zone

Shaun Rutherford serves as the first line of contact providing information and administrative assistance for applicants, students and staff members in the programs listed above; administers admissions applications, enrollment, registration, and graduation; provides information on state-centralized residency application process.

Brian Rybarczyk

Brian Rybarczyk

Associate Dean, Professional Development

brybar@unc.edu, (919) 962-7811
Bynum Hall, Room 215

Ally training: Mental Health First Aid, Safe Zone, Green Zone, Carolina F1RSTS Advocate, UndocuCarolina

Brian Rybarczyk, Ph.D. is the Associate Dean for Professional Development. He oversees CareerWell, The Graduate School's professional and career development initiative. He also oversees the student-focused activities for the Royster Society of Fellows and Weiss Urban Livability Fellowship, two premiere fellowship programs through The Graduate School.

Additionally, Rybarczyk directs the Preparing International Teaching Assistants Program (PITAP) which provides training for graduate student instructors new to the U.S. classroom and serves as co-administrative lead and a member of the leadership team for the international network Center for the Integration of Research, Teaching, and Learning (CIRTL). He is an active member of the Graduate Career Consortium, a professional organization that advances graduate and postdoctoral career and professional development. His campus-wide service includes the Leadership Educators Group, the Carolina Career Community and serving as the program coordinator for the SPIRE-IRACDA Postdoctoral Fellowship program.

Stephanie Schmitt

Stephanie Schmitt

Vice Dean, Academics

sschmitt@email.unc.edu, (919) 962-7799
Bynum Hall, Room 217

Ally training: Safe Zone, HAVEN, Green Zone, Mental Health First Aid

Stephanie Schmitt is the vice dean for academics in The Graduate School. In this position, she is responsible for administrative oversight for graduate education assessment efforts such as the campus-wide Program Review Process. This includes approximately eight external reviews each year and an equal number of closure meetings and midpoint evaluations for prior reviews. The review process is conducted for all undergraduate and graduate programs at the university in concert with the Provost's Office and includes the preparation of a self-study, a site visit by external reviewers from peer institutions, and extensive follow-up from the recommendations such as program responses and midpoint progress evaluations.

Schmitt also has collaborative oversight for several academic initiatives, including The Graduate School's academic policy interpretation, admissions and enrolled student services for graduate programs, academic and professional development for graduate students, international collaborations and initiatives, and major data collection and reporting initiatives within The Graduate School. Other academic initiatives falling within the scope of Schmitt's responsibilities include facilitating new and revised degree/program requests for graduate studies at Carolina, overseeing the graduate certificate policies process, chairing the Academic Policy Committee of The Graduate School's Administrative Board, maintaining the university's polices on graduate faculty designation, and updating academic policies like the Graduate Handbook relevant to graduate education.

Schmitt also represents graduate education interests on various university-wide committees, including the Student Data Stewards, Friday Center Advisory Board, International Advisory Council, Curriculum Committee, Diploma Task Force, and Academic Planning Task Force.

Prior to coming to The Graduate School Schmitt was an executive with a management consulting firm and served as a nonpartisan policy analyst with the North Carolina General Assembly. An alumna of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Schmitt earned her BA in International Studies and Political Science, her MPA from the School of Government, and her PhD in Public Policy. She has participated in and worked closely with programs at Carolina Leadership Development, Carolina Women's Center, and the Graduate and Professional Student Federation, for which she was inducted into the Order of the Golden Fleece honor society and the Frank Porter Graham Graduate & Professional Student Honor Society.

Lisa Schneider

Lisa Schneider

Executive Assistant & Spec. Proj. Coord.

lisa_schneider@unc.edu, (919) 962-4971
Bynum Hall, Room 200

Lisa Schneider serves as the Executive Assistant and Special Projects Coordinator for The Graduate School. In this role, Schneider provides administrative support to the leadership team, including managing calendars, travel arrangements and reimbursements, support for searches, and preparing meeting materials. She also supports special projects such as The Graduate School's strategic plan, “Building on Excellence”, and other projects as needed. Schneider is part of the Finance and Operations team.

Katie Stember

Katie Stember

Director of Experiential Learning

kstember@unc.edu,  
Graduate Student Center, Room 203

Katie Stember Ph.D., the inaugural director of experiential learning, is responsible for connecting graduate student talent across all disciplines with organizations both internal and external to UNC and enhancing students' marketability and skill development aligned with the workforce in North Carolina and beyond. She leads the Bridge Beyond Carolina summer internship program and teaches the GRAD 727: Team Collaboration course.

Stember previously served as the Director for Life Science Economic Development at the North Carolina Biotechnology Center where she worked with life sciences companies considering a North Carolina expansion. She received her B.S. in Behavioral Neuroscience from Northeastern University and her Ph.D. in Molecular and Cellular Pathology from UNC Chapel Hill. Stember's experiences as a graduate student at UNC and her partnerships with growing North Carolina companies inform her work with graduate students as they explore professional development and career opportunities.

Laura Thorp

Laura Thorp

Director of Student Affairs

lethorp@unc.edu, (919) 962-7786
Bynum Hall, Room 207

Laura Thorp, the inaugural director of student affairs, is responsible for supporting graduate student success. Collaborating with the Senior Associate Dean for Student Affairs, Thorp supports the student award processes and helps lead events such as Orientation, Wellness Events, and Appreciation Week.

Rachell Underhill

Rachell Underhill

Director, Information Technology

runderhill@unc.edu, (919) 962-7817
Graduate Student Center, Room 201

Ally training: Mental Health First Aid, Safe Zone, Safe Zone - Transgender/Nonbinary, Green Zone, HAVEN, Implicit Bias, UndocuCarolina

Rachell Underhill provides technical support for Graduate School web sites, builds and administers custom web applications and databases, develops custom digital solutions, and provides guidance and training on all aspects of information technology, including digital communications, accessibility, and information security.

Underhill is a two-time Carolina graduate, including a post-graduate certificate in Technology and Communication from the Hussman School of Journalism and Media. She is on the board of directors of the UNC Web Professionals organization and is a charter member of the national HighEdWeb Association where she serves as conference technical lead and is a member of the association's Safety, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee.

Beverly Wyrick

Beverly Wyrick

Associate Dean for Finance and Operations

beverly_wyrick@unc.edu, (919) 962-7827
Bynum Hall, Room 201

Ally training: Mental Health First Aid, HAVEN, Green Zone

Beverly Wyrick directs and oversees personnel, budgets, and the office of The Graduate School, and manages financial accounting for all Graduate School awards to graduate students including fellowships, grants, and tuition support.

 

 

 

 

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