USU Reorganizes, Makes Position Changes in Research, Graduate School

Utah State University has reorganized its research administration and graduate school into the Office of Research and Graduate Studies. The integrated office is a result of long-term planning by USU for strengthening the two functions under the leadership of Mark McLellan, vice president for research and dean of the school of graduate studies.

The new integrated office will put a focus on research enhancement combined with top-quality graduate education and recruitment.

As a part of the reorganization, two USU faculty take a more prominent role in the Office of Research and Graduate Studies. Jeff Broadbent and Shelley Lindauer have been named associate deans and associate vice presidents in the office.

“This step clarifies our leadership team and will set in motion a concerted effort to help drive the research support for faculty to new levels and reach out to attract graduate students interested in a world-class training,” said McLellan. “Jeff and Shelley will be with me at the forefront of this effort, working closely with the deans and reaching out to the faculty.”

Broadbent has served in the Research Office as associate vice president for research since 2006. In his position, he oversaw research support services at the university. Broadbent has been at USU since 1992 as a faculty member in the Department of Nutrition, Dietetics and Food Sciences.

“In practice, research and graduate studies are very closely connected,” said Broadbent. “The integration of these two offices will take advantage of that reality and bolster USU’s research and education efforts.”

Lindauer has been associate dean for the School of Graduate Studies since 2006. She came to USU in 1982 to the Family, Consumer and Human Development Department, where she has served as professor, interim department head, associate department head and director of USU’s Adele and Dale Young Child Development Laboratory.

“Graduate students are a driving force of USU’s research programs, so it makes good sense to work to align research and graduate studies,” said Lindauer. “I’m excited to see the new ideas and initiatives that will be facilitated by this merge.”

The new leadership team of McLellan, Broadbent and Lindauer will pursue opportunities to grow USU’s basic and applied research, support the creative and performing arts and promote technology commercialization. They will explore ways to assist faculty in building world-class graduate training programs and will pursue new ways to integrate the activities and efforts of the USU Research Foundation with the traditional campus roles.

“This is an exciting time for Utah State,” said McLellan. “Our research funding is growing faster than ever, we have excellent outstanding young faculty members and we’re submitting more research proposals than ever before. In the coming months, we simply hope to guide and support the momentum to an even greater level of success.”

Contact: Anna McEntire, (435) 797-7680, anna.mcentire@usu.edu