Second candidate for vice president position fields questions from faculty, staff Monday
Joan Lakoski hopes to use her strengths and experience to stimulate Central Michigan University in a way that works with its culture.
Lakoski, associate vice chancellor and associate dean for Science Education Outreach-Health Sciences at University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, is the second of four candidates to visit the campus for the vice president for Research and Graduate Studies position.
She fielded questions about her qualifications and expectations from 20 faculty members at the Bovee University Center during her campus visit Monday.
Lakoski received her Ph. D. in Pharmacology from the University of Iowa in 1981, followed by a fellowship in Psychiatry at Yale University in 1984. In addition to her position as professor of pharmacology and chemical biology at University of Pittsburgh’s School of Medicine, she served as associate dean for Postdoctoral Education and associate vice chancellor for Academic Career Development-Health Sciences.
Lakoski said she hopes to focus on career development for graduate students, add resources in concentrated areas of sustained funding and help faculty identify funding opportunities that play to their strengths.
“You get zero percent of funding if you don’t apply for it,” Lakoski said.
She said she plans to form workshops to make faculty members more competitive when applying for grants. She hopes to do this by establishing a mentoring program and encouraging faculty to form groups when applying, she said.
A good research and graduate program “makes (the college) more attractive as a learning environment,” Lakoski said.
She also wants to see more under-represented minorities in the research and graduate studies program. She said she believes the opening of the medical school, combined with offering more resources and stipends and reaching out nationally, will draw a more diverse pool of applicants.
“It’s good to know she has experience in a medical school,” said Rick Middleton, program officer of the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs.
Middleton expressed concern for the challenges the program faces, adding that CMU receives a low amount of grants each year for the size of the school. He’d like to see that number rise significantly with the filling of this position, he said.
Two more candidates will visit the campus over the next few weeks. E.K. Park, dean of Research and Graduate Studies at the City University of New York, will speak March 31 and Bradley Fenwick, professor of Pathobiology at the College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Tennessee at Knoxville, will speak April 4.
