Meet our team

Message from the Dean

While you may be a master’s or doctoral student studying with one of the many departments across Dalhousie’s four campuses, you are a Faculty of Graduate Studies (FGS) student. We are here to support and encourage you along every step of your program. Think of our team as a travelling companion on this exciting journey. When you don’t know which way to go, just ask. We’ll help point you in the right direction.

– Dean Marty Leonard, Faculty of Graduate Studies

Senior team

Marty Leonard, Dean
grad.dean@dal.ca

Valerie Chappe, Associate Dean Students and Postdoctoral Fellows
valerie.chappe@dal.ca

• Appeals
• Academic integrity
  
• Postdoctoral fellows
• Thesis and defence
• Student and faculty issues

Adam Donaldson, Associate Dean Scholarships and Programs
adam.donaldson@dal.ca

• Scholarships
• New programs
• Program modification
• Curriculum issues
• Program reviews

Hany El Naggar, Associate Dean Student/Supervisor Relationships
hany.elnaggar@dal.ca

• Best practices in grad student supervision
• Outreach and education

Staff

Admissions and programs

Tasha-Lynn Baxter, Senior Manager, Academic Regulations and Student Services
tashalynn.baxter@dal.ca

• Leads the FGS student service team
• Strategic planning for enrolment and retention
• Academic regulations management

Sarah Berrigan, Admissions and Convocation Officer
sarah.berrigan@dal.ca (for convocation inquiries, email fgs.convocation@dal.ca)

• Administers admission decisions
• Compiles and verifies convocation lists

Jaye Cartney, Grad Student Services Clerk
gradstudentservices@dal.ca

• Program and student services support

Dennis Cheng, Graduate Applications Coordinator
fgsapplications@dal.ca

• Oversees processing of admission application files
• Oversees processing of VGRS applications
• Electronic reference processing and support

Nicole Fraser, Program Officer (Term)
program.officer@dal.ca

• Manages graduate program processes and procedures
• Oversees graduate student program requirements and program changes

Lori Lawton, Graduate Academic Quality Assurance Coordinator
llawton@dal.ca

• FGS memberships
• Graduate calendar
• Governance committees
• Curriculum
• Program modifications/reviews

Melissa Maloney, Graduate Admissions Clerk
fgsapplications@dal.ca

• Supports processing of admission application files
• Electronic reference processing and support

Faryal Umer, Grad Student Services Clark (Term)
gradstudentservices@dal.ca

• Program and student services support

Scholarships and funding

Niki Power, Scholarships Liaison Officer
fgs.slo@dal.ca

• Liaison Officer and scholarship administration for NSERC, SSHRC and CIHR
• Administers scholarship competitions
• Killam administrator
• Administers Killam Postdoctoral Fellowship competition

Mary Anne Dib, Senior Funding Clerk
gradfunding@dal.ca

• Coordinates FGS scholarship allocation process
• Administers graduate student payments
• Provides information to departments and students concerning scholarship funding

Fernando Cunha Neto, Graduate Funding Assistant (Term)
gradfunding@dal.ca

• Assists in the processing of graduate student scholarship payments
• Provides funding information to students, graduate coordinators, administrative staff and researchers

Thesis and defence

Helena Martel, Senior Thesis Clerk
thesis@dal.ca

• Provides information on all matters related to thesis preparation
• Coordinates thesis submissions
• Arranges doctoral defences                           

Office administration

Trisha Estabrooks, Acting Office and HR Administrator
trisha.estabrooks@dal.ca

• Human resources
• Assistant to the deans
• Operational planning

Archana Sadana, Acting Receptionist
graduate.studies@dal.ca

• Phone, email and walk-in reception
• Track incoming grad-related forms and documents

Stephanie Theriault, Budget Officer
stephanie.theriault@dal.ca

• Finance
• Operating and scholarship budgets
• Annual Killam Event organizer

Marketing, communications and student engagement

Kenneth Conrad, Communications Coordinator
fgs.communications@dal.ca

• Updates FGS website and forms

Mabel Ho, Director, Professional Development and Student Engagement
mabel.ho@dal.ca

• Manages student experience portfolio
• Dal GradPD
• Together@Dal: Grad Edition orientation program    

Paul Strople, IT Coordinator
gradrequests@dal.ca

• Development of FGS website and information systems
• Administration of FGS database systems and reports

Interdisciplinary PhD program (IDPhD)

Peter Tyedmers, IDPhD Director
peter.tyedmers@dal.ca

Khoi Truong, IDPhD Graduate Secretary
idphd@dal.ca