Gordon B. Smith, associate provost and dean of the Graduate School

• USC political science faculty member since 1979

• Associate dean of the College of Liberal Arts since 1997

• Interim dean of the College of Liberals Arts 1998–1999

• Service on numerous University committees, including 1999–2000 Provost's Committee on Graduate Assistantships and other graduate admissions and curriculum committees

When Gordon Smith starts his new job May 1 as associate provost and Graduate School dean, he'll bring an agenda that includes raising stipends and benefits for graduate students and improving the quality of USC's graduate student body.

"Some people see the Graduate School as a bureaucratic office that merely pushes paper and measures the margins on graduate theses," said Smith, a veteran USC professor who replaces Marcia Welsh after her departure earlier this year to join her husband in New York. "I want to streamline the bureaucratic operations of the Graduate School and work toward improving our graduate student body."

To recruit better qualified graduate students, USC must first raise graduate assistantship stipends, which in most academic disciplines are well below the Southeastern average, Smith said.

"One way we can do that is by soliciting more grants and graduate fellowships from foundations and gifts from donors," Smith said. "That hasn't been done very much in the past. For every graduate student with fellowship funding, there is more University money that can be used to raise stipends for other students. The low stipends are harming our ability to attract the best students."

Smith also would like to explore ways to provide graduate students with health insurance, a practice that is becoming commonplace at other research universities. "It's expensive--we're talking several million dollars--and likely will be impossible to do in a budget year like this one. That's a long-term goal," he said.

Some faculty members also have made appeals in recent years to decentralize graduate admissions, allowing individual departments to decide which applicants are qualified for admission. Smith is unsure whether decentralization would work: "I'll have to learn the ropes on this a little better, perhaps form a task force to study what's involved. One of the principal responsibilities of the Graduate School is providing quality control in admissions and expulsions."

As Graduate School dean, Smith also hopes to encourage more distance education at the graduate level, citing the College of Library and Information Science degree program as a prime example of the potential for off-campus graduate offerings. He also wants the Graduate School to become more involved in pedagogical instruction for graduate students.

"Graduate students receive extensive training in their respective disciplines, but we haven't been doing a good job of helping them polish their presentation, speaking, and teaching skills," Smith said. "Those are marketable skills they'll need whether they end up teaching or in private industry."

He also wants to provide workshops for graduate directors across campus to help them recruit more minority students and find more external funds for their graduate programs.

"I also plan to work closely with the Graduate Student Association, which sponsors many worthwhile activities but needs more publicity," he said.

Harris Pastides, dean of the School of Public Health and chair of the search committee for the associate provost/Graduate School dean position, affirmed Smith's selection: "The committee was impressed by the large number of very talented faculty who were willing to serve in this very important and challenging position. Gordon has a remarkable breadth of senior University administrative experience and has a healthy balance of listening and decision-making capability."