Mendez, Belmonte, Baum assume new roles in dean's office

Wednesday, August 15, 2018

Changes abound among the leadership in Oklahoma State University’s College of Arts and Sciences. 

Jeanette Mendez was named interim dean in June, following the departure of Bret Danilowicz after six years to become provost at Florida Atlantic University. A nationwide search for the new dean is underway, and the goal is to have that person in place by July 2019.

“Bret moved the college forward in many positive ways,” Mendez said. “He always thought of the students first. And he often talked about excellence in teaching, and how we can be outstanding in the classroom and in research at the same time. We shouldn’t talk about teaching and research as two distinct things. We have students more involved in research than ever before, and we’re involving them in a holistic view of academia.”

Mendez was promoted to associate dean for research and facilities on March 2, after fulfilling that role on an interim basis the previous year. Kristen A. Baum, an integrative biology professor, is now the interim associate dean for research and facilities.

Laura Belmonte, associate dean for instruction and personnel, is another new member of the leadership team. She replaces Bruce Crauder, who is returning to being a full-time professor in the Department of Mathematics after 21 years in the dean’s office.

The lone returning associate dean is Thomas Wikle, who has overseen academic programs since 2000.

“There is great energy in the office,” Mendez said. “We are all bouncing ideas off each other and learning things we didn’t know and filling those gaps. That energy is going to help us move forward. Tom’s institutional knowledge is very valuable, and he is also throwing out new ideas and talking about new responsibilities he’d like to take on. Everyone has the chance now to re-imagine their roles and how we can work together in a different way.”

 

Mendez goes where she is most needed

Mendez jokes that she pursued the interim dean position because she has extensive experience in interim roles. Before becoming head of the Department of Political Science in 2011, Mendez had that job on an interim basis. She was also interim associate dean for research and facilities twice.

“I really enjoyed moving up to the dean’s suite, and I embraced the role of associate dean,” Mendez said. “I knew this was a chance to give me a different perspective, and a chance to contribute. I always like to think about where I’m needed most on the bigger team.”

Mendez came to OSU in 2005 after earning a combined sciences degree at Santa Clara (California) University, and both a master’s and doctorate in political science at Indiana University. Her recent research includes studying gendered patterns within political campaigns, political participation and identity of American Indians, and the impact of gender on public opinion.

Her main goals for this year include maintaining the college’s momentum. She is also focused on ensuring every department has the resources to succeed, implementing best practices across college policies for departments and promoting diversity and inclusion for faculty, students and staff.

“As academics, most of our training is focused on how to be excellent researchers and teachers, so we often fall into mentoring students the way we were mentored,” Mendez said. “We’re piloting some programs and working with faculty to determine the best way to mentor our students.”

 

Belmonte enjoys the challenges of administration

Belmonte’s job description includes ensuring quality instruction. She has been teaching in the Department of History since 1996 after finishing her Ph.D. at the University of Virginia. She also earned a master’s at Virginia and a bachelor’s at the University of Georgia, all in history. She helped found the OSU Women’s Studies Program and served as director of the American Studies Program. That led to her promotion to department head in 2014, where she served until her promotion this summer.

“Laura is extremely passionate,” Mendez said. “She cares deeply about faculty and students. She wants to promote a diverse community of scholars and has the background to do that. I think she has a lot of great ideas that she was able to implement within the Department of History, which gave her the experience to translate those ideas to the college level.”

Even as her administrative responsibilities increase, Belmonte continues to teach classes and conduct research. She enjoys those roles as well as the challenges of administration.

“To me, it’s all just a different set of intellectual puzzles,” Belmonte said. “I like teaching, and it’s important to focus on that as the key mission of our university. Administration is engaging, and it’s a different way of helping students and faculty. And I think it’s important to maintain an active research agenda because I will be in a position of evaluating the scholarship of others.”

Belmonte’s research is often focused on one of her passion areas: the LGBT rights movement. She has been a leading advocate in Oklahoma, founding one of the precursors of Freedom Oklahoma. That led to extensive experience with nonprofits, where she learned valuable lessons about fundraising, organizational and budget management, governance and interacting with the media. She said those experiences have helped her succeed as an academic administrator.

“I have also worked for a long time at OSU to advance diversity and inclusion, and part of my job in this role is to be the college equity officer,” Belmonte said. “Helping to diversify our faculty is immensely important to me. I have seen the impact that can make on our students.”

 

Baum erases the line between research and teaching

Baum joined the Department of Integrative Biology in 2005. She is also co-director of OSUTeach, a collaboration between CAS and the College of Education, Health and Aviation that allows science and math majors to earn teaching licenses and prepare to become secondary-education teachers.

She earned a doctorate in entomology and a master’s in wildlife and fisheries sciences, both at Texas A&M. She also has a bachelor’s from the College of William and Mary.

She is a prolific researcher, with most of her work focused on the effects of land use and management practice on pollinators—bees and butterflies, including the monarchs that migrate through Oklahoma annually.

“Throughout her career, she has prioritized involving students in research, and erasing the line between research and teaching,” Mendez said. “She is constantly thinking about how to advance the students’ experience here. We are going to grow by taking her expertise and applying it at the college level.”

Baum, who has successfully secured research funding from many agencies, is working to streamline the grant-application process for new faculty. She is also coordinating resources such as information about which faculty have submitted proposals to which agencies.

“There is a lot that goes into creating successful proposals, and every agency has its own unique rules,” Baum said. “I enjoy helping faculty succeed at navigating all of that. A lot of times, we recreate the wheel in the proposal process, which is not necessary if we are communicating.”

She is also overseeing the implementation of new programs Mendez started as associate dean, such as mentoring for incoming faculty.

“I would have been more hesitant to leave that role if it weren’t for my confidence in Kristen,” Mendez said. “We got some things started on the right path, and she has the ability to build on that.”

Building on a successful foundation is exactly what Mendez, Belmonte and Baum will be doing, along with the rest of the college.

“It’s important that people know that we are here and accessible, even during this period of transition,” Mendez said. “We want to be responsive and help every department’s students, faculty and staff succeed. We won’t lose focus on the initiatives we have in place. We will use this year to make sure things are working as intended and make adjustments where necessary.”