Melody Tankersley, Ph.D., has been
named Kent State University’s senior
associate provost and interim dean of
graduate studies.

Melody Tankersley, Ph.D., has been named Kent State University’s senior associate provost and interim dean of graduate studies. Tankersley previously served as associate provost for academic affairs and has been a faculty member in the College of Education, Health and Human Services since 1993.

In her new role as senior associate provost, Tankersley provides leadership in the areas of Accreditation, Assessment and Learning; Office of the University Registrar; Institutional Research; Curriculum Services; School of Digital Sciences; Kent State University Press; and ROTC. As a senior administrative officer, she also works closely with Todd Diacon, Ph.D., Kent State’s senior vice president for academic affairs and provost, in the Division of Academic Affairs.

As interim dean of graduate studies, Tankersley provides administrative and strategic direction to Kent State’s Division of Graduate Studies. She also serves as the major advocate and spokesperson for graduate issues across the university, working to enhance graduate education, including student quality of life and student services, admissions, recruitment and enrollment management, and policy development and implementation.

Tankersley, a professor of special education, earned her doctorate degree from the University of Virginia. She has published more than 90 professional journal articles, chapters and texts, and addressed more than 200 national and international audiences.

For more information about Kent State’s Office of the Provost, visit www.kent.edu/provost.

For more information about Kent State’s Division of Graduate Studies, visit www.kent.edu/graduatestudies.