Graduate School: Meet the Staff

Administration

Howard D. Grimes--Dean of the Graduate School

Vice President for Research and Dean of the Graduate School, Professor Howard Grimes has served in a number of positions and committees in the Graduate School including the Evaluation Committee for Summer Graduate Research Assistant Awards, Graduate Studies Committee, co-chair and chair of Graduate Studies Committee, and chair of the Associate Dean of the Graduate School Search Committee.

Grimes is a professor at the School of Molecular Biosciences and co-chair of the plant physiology program. His research focuses on the biochemistry of membrane transport proteins and the structure, function, and regulation of lipoxygenases--enzymes involved in lipid metabolism and in the generation of a wide array of signaling molecules. Both of these areas directly impact plant productivity and are important targets for genetic manipulation. Grimes earned his master's degree in plant pathology from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and his doctorate in botany from North Carolina State University.

Phone: 509-335-6412; Fax: 509-335-1949; e-mail: grimes@wsu.edu

Dr. Grimes' Innovators Lecture Series--A Garden of Hope: Plants Hold Key to Treating a Variety of Diseases

Steven R. Burkett--Associate Dean

Steve Burkett is Associate Dean of the Graduate School. He came to the Graduate School in 1985. He is involved with graduate student recruitment and retention, the TA training program, enrollment management, and academic records and reports. He is also Director of the WSU Ronald E. McNair Postbaccalaureate Achievement Program funded by the U.S. Department of Education. This program prepares promising low-income, first-generation college students and underrepresented students for eventual graduate doctoral study. Currently he serves on the Council of Graduate Schools/Council of Opportunity in Education Joint McNair Committee as one of two CGS appointed representatives. He is past Chair of the Western Name Exchange, a consortium of twenty-six western doctoral granting universities. He is also a past member of the Services Committee of the Graduate Records Examination (GRE) Executive Board, and member of a Council of Graduate Schools task force on models and resources for minority student recruitment and retention. He is Associate Professor of Sociology where his research and teaching interest focus on juvenile delinquency, adolescent alcohol and drug use and abuse. He earned his Ph.D. from the University of Oregon.

Phone: 509-335-1056; Fax: 509-335-1949; e-mail: sburkett@wsu.edu

Lori Wiest--Associate Dean

Lori Wiest is Associate Dean of the Graduate School and Coordinator of the Individual Interdisciplinary Doctoral Program. Her primary role is working with Marketing Communications in establishing communication plans, published materials, and the Graduate School Web site. Additional duties within the Graduate School include reviewing program issues as they relate to policy and procedures, petitions, committee approvals, and extensions; organizing Graduate Teaching Assistantship Workshop Series and Graduate Student Orientation, “Getting Connected;” and leading projects related to recruitment and application for admission.

As a faculty member in Music since 1991, Wiest maintains an active teaching role at Washington State University conducting the WSU Concert Choir and Madrigal Singers and teaching courses in conducting as well as teaching interdisciplinary courses for the Graduate School. Under her direction, Wiest's ensembles have been invited to perform in Italy, Germany, Austria, Czech Republic, Hungary, and Russia, as well as at professional conferences, in addition to their annual outreach performance tours. Recipient of a generous grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, she developed WSU’s American Choral Music Festival in 2008 in collaboration with the Festival of Contemporary Art Music to celebrate the diversity and rich heritage of American choral music. Wiest continues to present workshops and clinics at national, division, and state conferences and has served as guest conductor across the country and in Australia. She earned her bachelor’s in Music Education and Piano Performance from North Dakota State University, master’s in Choral Music from Arizona State University, and doctorate in Choral Conducting and Music Theory from University of Arizona.

Phone: 509-335-7619; Fax: 509-335-1949; e-mail: lwiest@wsu.edu

Pat Sturko--Associate Dean

Pat Sturko is an an Associate Dean involved with graduate program evaluation and outcomes assessment, recruitment and enrollment management, and professional development for graduate students. In addition, she supervises the Graduate School Admissions staff, programs, and information technology staff.

Sturko has worked in higher education management and administration for more than 15 years. She has a PhD in education with a focus on adult and organizational learning, B.A. and M.A. degrees in English, and additional graduate credits in the area of management. She is certified as a Senior Professional in Human Resources by the Society for Human Resource Management, and has presented workshops at the Colleges and Universities Professional Association (CUPA) regional and international conferences. In her administrative experience, Sturko has provided leadership on program assessment and evaluation, organization design, change management, and human resource planning for several restructuring initiatives within the university setting.

Phone: 509-335-7718; Fax: 509-335-1949; e-mail: psturko@wsu.edu

Debra Sellon--Associate Dean

Debra Sellon joined the Graduate School in January 2007 as an Associate Dean responsible for interdisciplinary graduate education. She is a professor of equine medicine in the Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences in the College of Veterinary Medicine. She obtained her preveterinary and veterinary education at Louisiana State University. After a one-year internship at Texas A&M University, she practiced veterinary medicine on a large Standardbred breeding farm in Central Kentucky.

After leaving private practice she completed residency training in Large Animal Internal Medicine at North Carolina State University and received a PhD in virology with a minor in biotechnology from the same institution. Sellon is a Diplomate (clinical specialist) and past President of the Specialty of Large Animal Internal Medicine in the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine. Her research interests include the pathogenesis of equine infectious diseases and development of new strategies for management of acute and chronic pain in horses. She is a senior editor for two textbooks published by Elsevier: Equine Internal Medicine and Equine Infectious Diseases.

e-mail: dsellon@vetmed.wsu.edu

Judith Minton--Director of Development

As Director of Development for the Graduate School, (located at WSU West), Judith Minton's primary responsibility is to identify, build and sustain relationships that will result in sources of private support for the mission and work of the Graduate School; its students, faculty and programs. She serves as the primary liaison for WSU to the ARCS Foundation and the ARCS Fellows. Judith works out of the WSU Foundation office in Seattle. Minton came to WSU via the University of Washington, School of Public Health and Community Medicine and University of Michigan Health System. She has more than 30 years experience as a businesswoman and is a Family Life Educator and professional speaker. She earned her degree in Family Life Education at Spring Arbor College in Michigan.

Phone: 206-448-1330; e-mail: jminton@wsu.edu

Tori Byington--Director of Planning and Assessment

Director, Graduate Planning and Assessment
Assistant Director, Summer Doctoral Fellows Program
Phone: 509-335-3701; e-mail: byington@wsu.edu

Administrative Staff

Joe Merrill--Administrative Assistant to Dean Grimes

Administrative Assistant -
Schedules appointments for the Graduate Dean; coordinates Graduate Student Orientation and Graduate Catalog revisions; contact for Summer Doctoral Fellows Program, Jack Kent Cooke Scholarship Program, ARCS Foundation; ADA representative.
Phone: 509-335-6412; e-mail: joem@wsu.edu

Paul Weed--Finance Officer

Finance Officer
Waivers, Graduate School Scholar Awards, Travel Grants, and other financial matters.
Graduate Assistantships, Personnel Action Forms/Tuition
Phone: 509-335-7618; e-mail: pweed@wsu.edu

Rita Whitcomb--Fiscal Specialist

Fiscal Specialist I - Travel Grants, Budget Tracking, McNair Grant Tracking,
Graduate Appointment Processing, Graduate School Scholar Awards, Travel Purchase.
Phone: 509-335-5165; e-mail: rwhitcomb@wsu.edu

Admissions

Jenny V. Saligumba-Graham--Academic Coordinator Senior

Academic Coordinator Senior; International Transcript Evaluator
Domestic Credentials Evaluation, International Credentials Evaluation, Admission Coding, I-20’s or immigration issues, Admission Certificates, Denial Letters, Residency with Dr. Burkett, International Transfer Credit, Graduate Certificates, Commencement, Summer Session, Change of Major Card, Admission to PHD card, Fees Refund, WSU Transcript Update, Fulbright and other international programs, Special Projects, Back up for Reenrollment and Grad to Undergrad Cards, Back up to Class Code changes for New Admits, Back up to WICHE program, Special Projects.
Phone: 509-335-1446; e-mail: saligum@wsu.edu

Jean E Whittaker--Academic Coordinator

Academic Coordinator;
Domestic Credentials Evaluation, International Credentials Evaluation, Admission Coding, Class Code Code changes for New Admits, Coordinates Minority Applications for Dr. Burkett (Project 1000, McNair), Reenrollment, Special Projects.
Phone: 509-335-6424; e-mail: whittakerje@wsu.edu

Sandy Boone--Academic Coordinator

Samantha Riebold--Office Assistant III

Office Assistant III;
Download applications, Application Processing, Dept Rec Processing, Denial Letter Processing, Admission Certificate Processing, Mail Processing, Transcript Verification, Receptionist, Special Projects.
Phone: 509-335-1446; e-mail: sriebold@wsu.edu

Michelle O’Reilly--Office Assistant II

Office Assistant II;
Scanning and validating documents to Stellent, Data entry of Examinations, Residency with Dr. Burkett, Back up for mail processing, transcript verification, admission certificate processing, denial letter processing, Special Projects.
e-mail: moreilly1@wsu.edu

Academic Programs

Programs approves all aspects of degree progress, Programs of Study and degree completion, including applications for degree, extension requests, Thesis and Dissertations, and final degree clearance for graduation. Programs also schedules written and oral exams, processes petition forms, deficiencies, and undergraduate reserve credits.

Donna Blacker--Academic Coordinator Senior

Academic Coordinator Senior:
Thesis/dissertation acceptance (drafts and finals); exam scheduling (preliminary and final); final degree clearance; miscellaneous: deficiencies, reinstatements, petitions, reduced course load, reserving graduate credit, programs of study, program and committee changes, application for degrees, and exception to policies.
Phone: 509-335-1337; e-mail: blacker@wsu.edu

Mary Ohnemus--Academic Coordinator

Academic Coordinator;
Programs of study; program and committee changes; applications for degree; final degree clearance; miscellaneous: thesis/dissertation acceptance (drafts and final), exam scheduling (preliminary and final), deficiencies, reinstatements, petitions, reduced course load, reserving graduate credit, and exception to policies.
Phone: 509-335-1218; e-mail: mohnemus@wsu.edu

Marketing Communications

Cynthia J. Hollenbeck--Public Relations/Communications Coordinator

Public Relations/Communications Coordinator -
Content Manager for the Graduate School and
Office of Research Web sites, writer/editor for
printed and Web based publications.
Phone: 509-335-2346;e-mail: cjhollenbeck@wsu.edu

Information Technology

Wendy Woods--Application Systems Analyst

Application Systems Analyst -
Application development; support, maintenance and analysis of systems within the graduate school with a
current emphasis on recruiting and imaging.
Phone: 509-335-4825; e-mail: woodsw@wsu.edu

Jon Heywood--Computer Systems Administrator

Computer Systems Administrator
Phone: 509-335-7687
e-mail: heywood@wsu.edu

Recruitment and Retention

Deidra Lockhart--Recruitment/Retention Specialist

Recruitment and retention specialist
Recruit underrepresented students for graduate study; assist with planning and implementation of a strategic recruitment and retention plan; Assist in the planning and implementation of special recruitment events/visitations for prospective graduate students; provide academic advising for potential graduate students; Participate in national and other off-campus recruitment fairs and events.
Phone: 509-335-7026; e-mail: dlockhart@wsu.edu

Graduate School
Washington State University
French Administration, Room 324
Grimes and Stadium Way
PO Box 641030
Pullman, WA 99164-1030

Phone: 509-335-6424
Fax: 509-335-1949
email: gradsch@wsu.edu

Graduate School, P.O. Box 641030, Washington State University, Pullman WA 99164-1030, 509-335-1446, Contact Us