Joshua Reno
As Associate Dean, Dr. Reno is involved in all functions of the Graduate School including
decision-making on academic issues, management of Graduate Council, developing and
operationalizing strategic initiatives. He is a critical point of contact for Graduate
Directors and is responsible for clarifying and implementing Graduate School policies,
while at the same time promoting best practices in graduate education. Dr. Reno often
serves as the Dean鈥檚 representative on committees, and has decision-making authority
if the Dean is not available.
Ann Marie Kellogg Executive Assistant to the Vice Provost and Dean of the Graduate School
Ann Marie Kellogg
Ann Marie coordinates scheduling for the Dean and other meetings hosted by the Graduate
School. She supports graduate student events, such as the Excellence Awards, orientation,
professional development seminars, and social activities that contribute to student
and program success. She is responsible for processing travel grants and other awards,
coordinating travel for external examiners and other guests, and hosting events for
the Graduate School. She also provides administrative support for the Graduate Council.
Angela LaRosa
Angela LaRosa is part of the Student Services team. She is available to meet with
students to offer advising on Graduate School requirements, including navigating policies
and expectations in support of degree completion. Angela is responsible for processing
individual student actions such as course add/drops, withdrawals, probation/jeopardy,
and general petitions. She can also help resolve degree conferral issues.
Jeannette works with the student services team and is often the first point of contact
for visitors to the Graduate School, where she either helps them directly or guides
them to other staff. She monitors incoming email queries, provides expedited responses,
and carries out actions relating to petitions and other student action forms. Jeannette
works closely with the Registrar鈥檚 office and other groups on campus to review, update,
and archive student records, and is instrumental in processing individual student
services.
Mohamadreza Babaee Assistant Dean for Graduate Student Success
Mohamadreza Babaee
Dr. Babaee oversees the Student Services team, developing and maintaining systems
to monitor student progress and engaging proactively to support timely degree completion.
He works with graduate program directors to ensure academic requirements, policies,
and procedures are implemented effectively. He also manages complex academic requests,
including leaves of absence, extensions of pre-ABD and ABD status, and other situations
requiring customized academic solutions. Committed to creating a welcoming environment
for graduate students, he meets individually with them to address concerns, offer
guidance, and connect them to resources such as professional development, wellness,
and academic support.
Strategic Planning, Policy Development, Data Management, and Governance
Kim Yousey-Elsener Assistant Dean for Academic Affairs
Kim Yousey-Elsener
Dr. Yousey-Elsener develops data-driven strategies to support data-informed decision-making,
strategic planning, and academic policy leadership. She ensures compliance with accreditation
standards and manages Graduate Manual review and revisions. Kim supports student success
by coordinating national survey responses, managing data for academic program review,
and coordinating Graduate Council operations, and is instrumental in the development
and implementation of strategic initiatives for the Graduate School and beyond.
Academic Program Management and Operations
Courtney Ignarri Assistant Dean for Program Review
Courtney Ignarri
Dr. Ignarri works with graduate programs to coordinate new degree program proposals,
revise existing curriculum, and steward these curricular changes through campus, SUNY,
and NYSED approval processes. She also organizes and oversees the Academic Program
Review process to ensure accreditation requirements are fulfilled. Dr. Ignarri also
manages Academic Guide review and revision for all graduate programs and policies.
She is available to consult on policy matters encoded in the Academic Guide and Graduate
School Manual or any of the processes described above.
Katherine Flynn
Kate supports the Academic Program Management and Operations team by leading dissertation
and thesis review for ProQuest publication, conducting review and revision of academic
guide program pages, providing administrative support for academic program reviews,
and managing recordkeeping for Graduate School-administered grants, fellowships and
other financial transactions. Kate also assists with data needs and dashboard updates
and supports and coordinates Graduate School events.
Yongabi Ngoh Assistant Director of Finance and Operations
Yongabi Ngoh
Yongabi manages budgets for the Graduate School and works with programs and departments
to facilitate fellowship awards, expenditures, and payments to student accounts for
select groups of international (Fulbright, IIE, etc) and Foundation-supported (Clark,
Gajwani, and Wu Fellowships) graduate students. His responsibilities include support
for the logistics and operations of the Graduate School such as working with ITS,
regulating permissions to information systems, meeting compliance functions.
Graduate Center for Professional Development and Postdoctoral Affairs
Erica Sausner Director of Graduate Professional Development
Erica Sausner
Dr. Sausner leads the Graduate Center for Professional Development and Postdoctoral
Affairs. Through this Center she connects graduate students and postdoctoral fellows
to opportunities鈥搊n campus and beyond鈥搕o augment student learning, develop professional
skills, and explore career pathways. She collaborates with graduate assistants who
provide peer support in dissertation writing and the development of effective teaching
and mentorship skills, and is also responsible for communicating events and opportunities
offered by the Graduate School to constituent groups.
Graduate Assistants
Julia Eggleston - College Teaching Support Specialist Julia Eggleston
Julia Eggleston supports the development and implementation of university-wide TA
training for new graduate students. Through this role she collaborates with cross-campus
experts to design and facilitate regular workshops related to college teaching, as
well as to curate and develop resources related to the pedagogical and non-pedagogical
aspects of teaching. As a PhD candidate in Comparative Literature, her teaching interests
center on interdisciplinarity and the environmental humanities, while her research
focuses on extinction, practices of birdsong recording, and the geopolitics of data
circulation.
Badreddine Ben Othman - Graduate Writing Support Specialist
Badreddine Ben Othman
Badreddine provides academic writing support to graduate students, assisting them
in developing and advancing their dissertations, theses, conference papers, and other
scholarly projects. He also organizes writing-space sessions that provide graduate
students with dedicated, distraction-free time to work alongside their peers, fostering
sustained writing practices, accountability, and intellectual engagement within a
supportive academic environment. In this capacity, he collaborates with experts and
colleagues across the university to design and facilitate workshops addressing various
forms and dimensions of academic writing.
As a PhD candidate in Comparative Literature, Badreddine鈥檚 teaching interests include
Africana Studies as well as the literature and film of the Global South. His research
examines representations and intersections of slavery, race, and vulnerability in
post-1990 Afro-Arab literature and film.
