The following message to the University community is from Interim York University Vice-President Academic and Provost Lisa Philipps:
It is with very mixed feelings that I announce that Interim Dean of the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Associate Vice-President Graduate Fahim Quadir will be leaving York University to undertake a new leadership opportunity as vice-provost and dean of the School of Graduate Studies at Queen’s University, effective July 1.
Fahim has been a member of the York community since 2001 as a professor of social science and development studies. He was the founding director of York’s Graduate Program in Development Studies and the undergraduate program in International Development Studies. He served as associate dean students in the Faculty of Graduate Studies from 2013 to 2017, when he assumed the role of interim dean of FGS and AVP graduate.
As associate dean and now as interim dean, Fahim has been committed to enhancing the quality of graduate education and the graduate student and postdoctoral experience. He has championed a range of initiatives, including implementing an online admission system, instituting a protocol for submitting electronic theses and dissertations, restructuring the student petition process to resolve student complaints, streamlining the system to advance eligible students from a master’s to a doctoral degree option and leading a working group to improve the University’s services for international graduate students. He played an important role in developing a new postdoctoral fellowship program and introducing a graduate student professional development initiative. Recently, he chaired a Working Group on Graduate Supervision that hosted a series of consultation sessions to review and update York’s supervisory policies.
As a member of the senior leadership team at York, Fahim has been a collegial contributor to key discussions about directions for the University and graduate education. He has undertaken the complex and important assignment of evolving the role of FGS in response to changes in provincial quality assurance processes and the University’s transition to the SHARP budget model. He has fostered enhanced collaboration across the University, creating standard operating protocols and preparing Faculty rolling budgets to enhance the overall quality and integrity of graduate education at York University. Fahim has also represented York at provincial and national bodies on graduate education.
At Queen’s University, Fahim will lead a school with 4,500 graduate students in 125 graduate programs in six Faculties. The school is responsible for supporting graduate student achievement consistent with the highest academic standards and fostering excellence in graduate student research; it fulfills its mandate in collaboration with Faculties and schools in relation to regulations and procedures for admissions, programs, completion of degree requirements and support for graduate students.
We will have opportunities in the coming months to publicly acknowledge Fahim’s contributions to York University. In the meantime, please join me in thanking him and in wishing him great success in his new role at Queen’s University.
A search for the next dean of FGS and AVP graduate is currently underway, with the expectation of an appointment effective July 1.