Dear Colleagues:

Dr. Colleen Webb has announced her decision to step down from her roles as Dean of the Graduate School and Vice Provost for Graduate Affairs at Colorado State University. After years of dedicated administrative leadership, she is returning full-time to research and teaching as a professor in the Department of Biology, effective this month.

We owe Dr. Webb a profound debt of gratitude for her exceptional service, steady advocacy for graduate education, and deep commitment to student success. Throughout her tenure, she has strengthened our academic community, championed diverse scholarly disciplines, and expanded vital resources for graduate students across campus.

Her many contributions include:

• Elevating Mentoring: Advancing the Graduate Center for Inclusive Mentoring and developing the MentorWell program to train faculty and improve mentoring practices across all colleges and departments.
• Enhancing Student Support: Securing grant funding to create well-being training modules and increasing scholarships for student access, persistence, and thesis/dissertation completion.
• Fostering Community: Championing connection and belonging through initiatives like GradSpace and dedicated support for graduate student groups.
• Reducing Financial Barriers:
  • Instrumental in developing the phased plan to cover mandatory fees for graduate assistants — a student support initiative with a lasting impact.
  • Critical in obtaining 100% health insurance premium coverage and GA raises applied to all GAs, not just those making the minimum.
  • Together, these efforts resulted in approximately a 26% increase in GA compensation over a three-year period.

Please join me in thanking Dr. Webb for her outstanding leadership and wishing her the absolute best as she returns to her faculty role.

I will announce an Interim Dean of the Graduate School and Vice Provost for Graduate Affairs in the near future.

Sincerely,

Lise M. Youngblade, Ph.D.
Provost and Executive Vice President