Executive Assistant, Undergraduate Studies

Position Summary

The Executive Assistant, Academic Affairs is responsible for assisting and supporting the Dean of Academic Affairs and the Undergraduate Dean in performing his/her duties.

Duties and Responsibilities

  • Act as the Dean’s primary support person, including keeping calendars, fielding calls, coordinating workflow, communications, processes, and procedures to ensure that projects and various assigned tasks are being handled in a timely manner
  • Maintain Undergraduate Studies files and records, often of a highly confidential and critical nature, including faculty files, strategic initiatives, etc.; 
  • Coordinate special projects and assignments including gathering and analyzing data preparing reports and summaries, keeping files and making recommendations;
  • With Human Resources, coordinate the searches for Undergraduate Studies full-time faculty candidates;
  • Administer the Academic Affairs budget, assist with department budget preparation, this includes annual budget review and spreadsheet of updates for Undergraduate Studies and submission to the business office;
  • Coordinate with the Dean of Academic Affairs, the management of the Academic Affairs development fund requests, approvals, and account reconciliation;
  • Facilitate communication with the Deans, Chairs, Faculty, Program Managers, administrative department staff and students, including keeping general calendars for support meetings, workshops, conferences, etc.;
  • Coordinate travel arrangements and itineraries for the Dean of Academic Affairs and Undergraduate Dean and CCS visitors;
  • In Collaboration with the Speakers and Exhibitions Committee, coordinate the Toyota and Woodward Lecture series and other special events.
  • Facilitate the selection process for the Imre J. Molnar award.
  • Monitor concerns raised by students, faculty, and/or staff, and apprise the Deans of issues in need of resolution;
  • Represents the Deans at Program Manager meetings;
  • Participate as assigned in various College activities such as visiting speaker events, exhibitions, open houses, portfolio days, the annual Student Exhibition, and Commencement, as well as functions related to sponsored projects and other activities;
  • Maintains and orders office supplies for Academic Affairs.
  • Monitor payment allocation for CCS Mentors.
  • Perform additional duties as assigned by the Dean of Academic Affairs and the Undergraduate Dean.

Teaching Assignment Overload

The full-time teaching load for studio faculty is 18 contact hours and for faculty teaching lecture courses, nine contact hours per semester. There are faculty who teach both studio and lecture courses; three 3-credit courses are considered a full-time load irrespective of the contact hours. Complete the teaching assignment overload form when hours exceed this requirement.

You must log in to view this form. Please use the login form on the right to enter your CCS credentials and continue.

CCS Publishing Award 2025-2026

$1,000 Scholarly Publishing Award
$1,000 Creative Publishing Award

Overview

The CCS Publishing Award, sponsored by the Office of Academic Affairs, will be awarded to two faculty or staff members who, in the two calendar years prior to the nomination deadline, published exemplary scholarly or creative work as determined by the selection committee. Published works, including monographs, creative works (e.g., novels or anthologies of poetry), exhibition catalogs, textbooks, edited editions, or journal articles, may be nominated. Two awards will be granted annually, one for scholarly publishing and the other for creative publishing. The cash award is taxable income.

Submitted works will be reviewed by a faculty and staff committee appointed by the Dean of Academic Affairs.

Committee Membership

The selection committee consists of eight voting members and an ex-officio. Current faculty members of the Library Committee, along with one elected staff member, serve a three-year term. The committee is responsible for coordinating the award process and selecting the winning submission in each category.

Committee Members

Karen McGarry, Associate Professor, Art Education
Dan Stewart, Associate Professor, Foundations
Kim Harty, Associate Professor, Studio Art & Craft
David Smith, Visiting Associate Professor, Transportation Design
Claire Thibodeau, Assistant Professor, Studio Art & Craft
Emily Bommarito, Assistant Professor, Foundations

Appointed Staff Member

Becca Pad, Library Director, Ex-Officio

Submission Deadline

December 15th, 2025

Eligibility

Current CCS faculty (full-time and adjunct) and staff with continuous appointments during the academic year of nomination and award are eligible. Publications from the last two calendar years, including those published prior to the author’s employment at CCS, are eligible. Previous recipients of the award are eligible again after three years. If faculty and staff serving on the CCS Publishing Award Committee choose to apply, they are ineligible to vote in the category of their submission. They will still be eligible to vote in the alternative category. CCS students are not eligible for this award.

Award Categories

Academic Publishing

Eligible submissions for the academic publishing category include books, journal articles, and essays. While the category is not restricted to peer-reviewed or refereed materials, submissions should demonstrate a high level of research intensity. If the work has undergone peer-reviewed or refereed, please indicate this on the application form.

Creative Publishing

Creative works for the creative publishing category include books (such as novels, monographs, anthologies of poetry, or authored children’s illustrated books) and journal or newspaper articles.

Nominations

Nominations and self-nominations for the CCS Publishing Award should be submitted through the nomination form by December 15, 2025. One nomination per author, per category; self-published works are not eligible.
The following materials will need to be completed:
● Application form
● Current CV
● Copy of the submitted work
● A personal statement addressing how the candidate’s work reflects the award criteria
● Author’s headshot photograph (optional)

Award Announcement and Ceremony

The winners of the CCS Publishing Award in the categories of scholarly and creative publishing will be announced at the end of the winter semester.

Past Winners

Academic YearCategoryNamePositionAchievement / PublicationPublisher / Journal and Year
2024-2025AcademicKaren McGarryAssociate Professor, Art Education“Educating the Whiteness Out.” The Intersectionality of Critical Identities in Art Education, edited by S. Willis, R. Shin, and A. Richards International Society for Education through Art (InSEA), 2024, pp. 12–22.
2024-2025CreativeWilliam LangfordAdjunct Faculty, Liberal ArtsDetroit: Workers, Teachers, Lovers.Finishing Line Press, 2022.
2023-2024AcademicDr. Predrag NikolicProfessor MA/MFA User Experience DesignAI Fantasy and (Anti) Co-Creative Machines: On Singularity Dadaism, Syntropic Counterpoints and Designdiid (disegno industriale) 80, no. 12, 2023
2023-2024CreativeMelanie DemmerAdjunct Instructor, IllustrationCookie KindnessRandom House Children’s Books, 2022
2022-2023AcademicDr. Amy RuoppDean of Undergraduate Studies, Department Chair and Associate Professor of Art EducationEncounters with Theory as Conceputal Medium and Creative PracticeRoutledge, 2022
2022-2023CreativeMatt FaulknerAdjunct Instructor, Entertainment ArtsMy Nest of SilenceAtheneum Book for Young Readers,
2022

Dashboard – Change to Existing Program

View the Change to Existing Program form here.

User fills out form details.

Upon submit a conformation email is sent to the user.

A notification email is sent to Academic Affairs.

A notification email is sent to the UG or GR Dean based on Academic Level field.

UG/GR Dean reviews details.

If approved a notification is sent to Academic Affairs when updated (Status = Approved).

Academic Affairs reviews details.

If approved a notification is sent to Registrar when updated (Status = Approved).

Registrar approves and completes request.

If complete a notification is sent to User when updated (Status = Complete).

Course Submitted By Creation Date Status
Advertising Nadine Ashton 2021-04-01 Closed
Entertainment Arts: Game Design David Gazdowicz 2021-08-25 Closed
Entertainment Arts – Animation Melissa McCann 2021-12-14 Closed
Communication Design Kristin Koch 2021-12-14 Closed
Craft & Material Studies Kim Harty 2022-01-21 Closed
Color and Materials Design Anna Stolarski 2022-01-31 Closed
User Experience Design Anna Stolarski 2022-02-04 Closed
Transportation Design Anna Stolarski 2022-02-04 Closed
Motion Design Anna Stolarski 2022-02-04 Closed
Design for Climate Action Anna Stolarski 2022-02-04 Closed
Art Practice Department Lisa Rigstad 2022-03-02 Closed
Art History Minor Carolyn Forgacs 2022-03-22 Closed
Art History Minor Carolyn Forgacs 2022-03-23 Closed
Interior Design Program Tina Tomicic 2022-04-25 Closed
Interdisiplinary Art + Design Scott Northrup 2022-10-03 Closed
Craft & Material Studies Lisa Rigstad 2022-10-14 Closed
Art Practice Department Lisa Rigstad 2022-10-14 Closed
Liberal Arts James Garvey 2022-12-05 Closed
User Experience Design Jill Davis 2023-01-31 Closed
Color and Materials Design Chelsea Flowers 2023-02-02 Closed
Interdisciplinary Design Studies Chelsea Flowers 2023-02-17 Closed
Design for Climate Action Chelsea Flowers 2023-02-17 Closed
Art Practice Valerie Jenkins 2023-03-20 Closed
Craft and Material Studies Valerie Jenkins 2023-03-20 Closed
Art Practice Valerie Jenkins 2023-03-20 Closed
Craft and Material Studies Valerie Jenkins 2023-03-20 Closed
Craft and Material Studies Valerie Jenkins 2023-03-29 Closed
Design for Climate Action Ian Lambert 2023-09-22 Closed
Studio Art and Craft Valerie Jenkins 2023-09-23 Closed
Advertising Design Kristin Koch 2023-09-29 Closed
User Experience Design – Distance Learning Jill Davis 2023-10-13 In Progress
User Experience Design (UXD) Jill Davis 2023-10-20 Closed
Graduate Transportation Design Jill Davis 2023-11-01 Closed
Liberal Arts James Garvey 2023-11-03 Closed
Kristin Koch 2023-11-29 Closed
Communication Design & Strategy (formerly Communication Design & Advertising Design) Kristin Koch 2024-09-05 Closed
MINOR–ADVERTISING DESIGN: INTEGRATED/TV Kristin Koch 2023-12-20 Closed
MINOR–COMMUNICATION DESIGN Kristin Koch 2023-12-20 Closed
Communication Design Kristin Koch 2024-01-19 Closed
MINORS // ADVERTISING DESIGN: DIGITAL & ADVERTISING DESIGN: INTEGRATED/TV Kristin Koch 2024-01-19 Closed
Minor // INTERACTIVE DESIGN Kristin Koch 2024-01-19 Closed
Interdisciplinary Design and Media Jill Davis 2024-04-01 Closed
MA User Experience Design (Online vesrion) Ian Lambert 2024-04-01 In Progress
Minors in Art History, Creative Entrepreneurship, Critical Theory, Film Studies James Garvey 2024-08-14 In Progress
Communication Design & Strategy Kristin Koch 2024-10-14 Closed
Art Education Carolyn Forgacs 2024-10-09 Closed
3D Animation Dylan VanWormer 2024-11-06 Closed
CDS UI/UX Design Kristin Koch 2024-10-14 Closed
User Experience Design Jill Davis 2024-11-15 Closed
Color & Materials Design Jill Davis 2025-03-25 In Progress
User Experience Design Jill Davis 2025-03-25 In Progress
Sustainability and Social Responsibility James Garvey 2025-03-25 In Progress
User Experience Design Jill Davis 2025-03-25 Closed
Color & Materials Design Jill Davis 2025-03-27 Closed
Design for Sustainability Jill Davis 2025-03-31 Closed
Transportation Design Jill Davis 2025-03-31 Closed
Interdisciplinary Design & Media Jill Davis 2025-03-31 Closed
Studio Art and Craft Lisa Rigstad 2025-10-09 Closed
Animation David Gazdowicz 2025-10-24 In Progress
Game Design David Gazdowicz 2025-10-24 In Progress
Concept Design and Visual Development David Gazdowicz 2025-10-24 In Progress
Fashion Design Tina Tomicic 2025-10-29 In Progress
Interior Design, Communication Design and Strategy, and Photography/Film Alicia Gaeta 2025-10-29 In Progress
Fashion Accessories Design Tina Tomicic 2025-10-29 In Progress
Communicatiin Design & Strategy Susan Laporte 2025-10-30 Closed
Liberal Arts- but it would change all programs James Garvey 2025-11-04 In Progress
Color & Materials Design Jill Davis 2025-11-25 In Progress
Product Design Program Greg Darby 2025-11-30 In Progress