Susan Gano-Phillips Announced as New CAS Dean

Douglas Knerr, UM-Flint Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, made the following announcement on Wednesday, December 16th:

I am pleased to announce that Susan Gano-Phillips has been appointed as Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences pending Board of Regents approval.

Dean Gano-Phillips holds a BS degree from the University of Michigan and an MA and PhD from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.  A licensed Psychologist, she joined the University of Michigan-Flint faculty in 1993 as a Lecturer, was appointed as an Assistant Professor in 1994, tenured and promoted as Associate Professor in 2000, and promoted to Professor in 2011.  Dean Gano-Phillips has a distinguished record of administrative service across a wide array of governance, curricular, and strategic initiatives at the departmental, college, and university levels including Director of the Thompson Center for Learning and Teaching, Chair of the Department of Psychology, Associate Dean, and most recently Interim Dean of CAS.

Dean Gano-Phillips’ scholarly activities have included appointment as a J. William Fulbright Scholar in general education at the City University of Hong Kong.  She is the author of A Process Approach to General Education Reform: Transforming Institutional Culture in Higher Education, as well as numerous refereed journal articles, and has delivered over 30 conference papers including a plenary address at the Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) General Education and Assessment Conference.  Dean Gano-Phillips has also served as a consultant on general education curricula for Webster University, Hong Kong Baptist University, the Postsecondary Education Quality Assessment Board for Ontario, Canada, and Portland State University.

Dean Gano-Phillips is co-founder of Quad-POD, the faculty development collaborative between four area higher education institutions, has served on several community boards, and has provided consultation to agencies such as Genesee County Family Court and the Shelter of Flint.  She is the recipient of numerous teaching awards and is a strong advocate for civically-engaged learning, having worked in partnership with Whaley Children’s Center and Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Flint.

“I’m thrilled with the opportunity to serve the College of Arts and Sciences and the University in this role,” said Gano-Phillips, “the College has a long and storied history about which we should be very proud.  Building on that history through long-term planning and continuous professional development for faculty and staff will allow the College and its graduates to achieve new levels of excellence.”  Dean Gano-Phillips also noted that she is “excited to partner with faculty and staff to improve student retention and success through improved advising and meaningful engagement of students with innovative pedagogies and programs, internships, experiential learning, research, and creative activities.”

I look forward to Dean Gano-Phillips’ leadership in moving the College of Arts and Sciences forward, and thank the CAS Dean Search Committee and all of our colleagues who led and participated in the search process.

Please join me in congratulating Susan on her appointment as Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences!

Douglas Knerr
Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs