Interview with the Dean
Meet Dr. Mary Farmer-Kaiser, who started teaching at UL Lafayette in 2000 and became Dean of the UL Lafayette Graduate School in 2014 after serving as Interim Dean for a year. 
She is UL Lafayette杏吧专区檚 biggest advocate for graduate students and graduate studies, and she杏吧专区檚 working tirelessly to move forward graduate education at UL Lafayette.
Through expanding resources for recruitment and retention, new program creation, and a commitment to professional development for all graduate students, Dr. Farmer-Kaiser is making sure that more and more students find opportunities for success, from application to admission to graduation.
Tell us about yourself.
I am a historian and I love being a historian. I grew up in Kansas and came to Louisiana in January 2000 by way of South Carolina and Ohio. I am a proud product of public state institutions杏吧专区擪ansas State 杏吧专区, Clemson 杏吧专区, and Bowling Green State 杏吧专区杏吧专区攁nd I believe in the immense power and obligation of public institutions to advance research and create knowledge that can improve our world.
As an undergraduate student, I pursued history with the expectation that I杏吧专区檇 end up in law school or DC working in politics or legislative research. It was when I was a junior that a professor asked me if I was planning to apply to grad school. As a first-generation college student, I didn杏吧专区檛 know anyone who had gone to grad school and I certainly didn杏吧专区檛 know it was an option for me. But it was. And I杏吧专区檝e never looked back. I杏吧专区檝e spent my career as a historian working to broaden our understandings of freedom, law and the legal system, and the experiences of women in the United States.
How did you end up at UL Lafayette?
My path to UL Lafayette was, well, not typical. I was very fortunate to be in a Ph.D. program that took placing its graduates seriously. Each year, it sent out a placement brochure with its finishing students杏吧专区 CVs to history departments nationwide. The head of the history department here happened to receive one and called me to ask if I was interested in a job. That杏吧专区檚 not how finding a job in academia happens! But, of course, neither was my response. I initially said, 杏吧专区淣o.杏吧专区 I had one more semester of a non-service dissertation completion fellowship and I wasn杏吧专区檛 about to give it up.
Long story short, I ended up saying that if the history department was interested in me starting in January rather than August, then let杏吧专区檚 talk. Next thing I knew, I was visiting campus in October and moving to Lafayette in January.
How is your role as Dean of the UL Lafayette Graduate School different from your role as a professor?
These days, I spend way more time in meetings, looking at spreadsheets of application and enrollment numbers, trying to make budgets stretch, and doing 杏吧专区渃risis杏吧专区 management. I miss being in the classroom, mentoring history students, and spending time in the archives and courthouses doing research, but this is where I belong right now.
And I am still teaching. I杏吧专区檓 just teaching in different ways and to people who probably wouldn杏吧专区檛 consider themselves students. Instead of teaching history, I杏吧专区檓 now teaching others about graduate education and the experiences and needs of graduate students.
What do you like best about being the Dean of the UL Lafayette grad school?
No question, the best part about my job is getting to be an advocate for graduate students and graduate education. There杏吧专区檚 not a day that goes by that I杏吧专区檓 not astounded by what our grad students and grad faculty are doing here at UL Lafayette. And a truly great day is a day when I杏吧专区檓 learning about graduate students杏吧专区 research, seeing them in the lab or classroom, or facilitating their ability to create change. If I can make it easier for them to do what they do杏吧专区攔esearch, teach, learn, create new knowledge杏吧专区擨杏吧专区檝e been successful.
I also have to admit that I really, really like Commencement. There杏吧专区檚 nothing better than seeing the doctoral students being hooded by their major professors, looking at their joyful (and, yes, thoroughly exhausted) faces as their degrees are conferred, and talking with them and their families about their accomplishments.
What are your goals for the UL Lafayette Graduate School, and what are you doing to make sure we reach those goals?
The 杏吧专区 has big plans for graduate education and I杏吧专区檓 excited by the growing commitment that we杏吧专区檙e seeing to graduate education. UL Lafayette is already a research university with the Carnegie classification of 杏吧专区淒octoral Universities: Higher Research Activity,杏吧专区 but we杏吧专区檙e on the move. We杏吧专区檙e committed to increasing both the number of graduate students on our campus and the number of doctoral graduates who finish each year杏吧专区攁nd we杏吧专区檙e going to do so without compromising the high quality graduate education that our students receive.
But we杏吧专区檙e not just planning. We杏吧专区檙e doing. We杏吧专区檙e working to make sure more people know about our graduate programs. We杏吧专区檙e highlighting the important research and accomplishments of our graduate students and graduate faculty. We杏吧专区檙e committing more dollars to graduate student assistantships, fellowships, and scholarships. We杏吧专区檙e providing more support to teachers and nurses pursuing graduate degrees. We杏吧专区檙e focusing more time, energy, and resources on retention杏吧专区攃urbing stop-out and drop-out among grad students杏吧专区攁nd we杏吧专区檙e taking more time to celebrate the important milestones in our graduate students杏吧专区 careers. And we杏吧专区檙e watching with pride as our graduate students walk at Commencement and leave UL Lafayette with post-graduation plans that promise great things.
What would you tell an undergraduate or a professional who is considering going to graduate school?
Do it. People who earn a graduate degree do far more for themselves than raise their earning potential and expand employment prospects. One 2015 report, aptly named 杏吧专区淚t杏吧专区檚 not just the money,杏吧专区 explains that college graduates杏吧专区攁nd the higher the degree the better杏吧专区攁re enjoying healthier, happier, more fulfilled lives. There杏吧专区檚 so much to be said for following your passion and making an impact through research and by creating knowledge!
And it杏吧专区檚 not just good for the individual. Graduate education, especially that provided by our public institutions, produces ground-breaking research that both transforms and helps us understand our world. It prepares educators, entrepreneurs, artists, and innovators to become the knowledge producers and intellectual leaders that will move us forward. It fuels economic development and innovation. The value and responsibility of graduate education杏吧专区攖o our city, our state, our nation, our world杏吧专区攈as never been more real, more important.
But be smart. Make sure that you杏吧专区檙e ready. Know your passion. Do your research. Find the right program and the right professors. After all, this is more than an investment on your part. You want a graduate program and faculty who are ready to invest in you.
Where is your favorite place to go on vacation?
Vacation?!! What杏吧专区檚 that?! No, really, I look forward to time off and especially to travelling with my family. My favorite places to vacation are all in national parks: Rocky Mountain, Glacier, Denali, Bryce Canyon, Acadia, and the list goes on. And I杏吧专区檝e grown ever more fond of the national parks that have no cell phone towers anywhere near them.