The Conference of Southern Graduate Schools has honored Patricia Koski, associate dean for the University of Arkansas Graduate School and International Education, with the 2018 Outstanding Contributions to Graduate Education in the Southern Region award.

In Koski's 20 years as the associate dean for the Graduate School, she has led efforts to increase diversity at the U of A, to create interdisciplinary graduate degree programs, to strengthen retention and graduation and to encourage the voice of graduate students. Her steady leadership and unwavering advocacy for graduate students has been significant in advancing graduate education at the U of A, in Arkansas and beyond.

"To say Dean Koski is the glue that holds the Graduate School together would be an understatement," said Kim Needy, dean of the Graduate School and International Education. "I told someone recently that if the Graduate School catches fire, grab Dean Koski, put her on your back and run for the exit. Because, with her, we cannot only rebuild, but we can continue on our steep trajectory to improve graduate education on our campus, in the state of Arkansas and across the Southern region."

Throughout her tenure in the Graduate School, Koski has overseen a U of A summer research program aimed at preparing undergraduates from historically black colleges and universities, Hispanic-serving institutions and tribal colleges for graduate school. At her suggestion, a summer bridge program for underrepresented students entering U of A graduate programs is now under development. Her efforts have successfully increased diversity among the graduate student population.

To better meet the demand for multi-disciplinary graduate education, the Graduate School has been at the forefront of creating cross-college interdisciplinary graduate degree programs. Koski has lobbied for, advocated on behalf of and sometimes helped create the six interdisciplinary graduate programs currently offered at the U of A.

"Dean Koski has been very successful in breaking down traditional barriers between colleges and disciplines, and the graduate students in these interdisciplinary programs have benefited tremendously," said Todd Shields, dean of the J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences.

Improving retention through financial and institutional support has always been among Koski's top priorities. To this end, she created summer research graduate assistantships and dissertation-year fellowships. However, her greatest efforts in this area likely occur in her oversight of students who are in academic difficulty and the one-on-one conversations she has with them.

Koski has always encouraged the voice of graduate students to be heard on the U of A campus. Early in her tenure, she created the Graduate Dean's Student Advisory Board and, three years ago, she helped U of A graduate students form the Graduate Student Congress.

"The Graduate Student Congress is emblematic of Dean Koski's ability to inspire, encourage and develop graduate students into leaders," said Arley Ward, speaker of the Graduate Student Congress.

Koski's contributions to graduate education are, not only reflective of the U of A's guiding priority to strengthen graduate education, but are felt throughout the state and the Southern region. She worked with graduate deans across the state to lobby the Arkansas Department of Higher Education to create a graduate certificate definition and classification and is leading an effort to share graduate courses between the U of A and the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences.

She has served in a variety of leadership roles for the Conference of Southern Graduate Schools, including serving as the host committee co-chair for the 2018 conference. Additionally, she is the co-director for the Council of Graduate Schools Ph.D. Career Pathways Program Improvement Project, which is funded by the National Science Foundation and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

Koski was presented with the award at the Conference of Southern Graduate Schools annual meeting, which was held in Fayetteville Feb. 22-24.