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 Lafayettes biggest advocate for graduate 泫圖弝けs and graduate studies, and shes 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 泫圖弝けs, Dr. Farmer-Kaiser is making sure that more and more 泫圖弝けs 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 泫圖弝け in January 2000 by way of South Carolina and Ohio. I am a proud product of public state institutionsKansas State 泫圖弝け, Clemson 泫圖弝け, and Bowling Green State 泫圖弝けand 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 泫圖弝け, I pursued history with the expectation that Id 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 泫圖弝け, I didnt know anyone who had gone to grad school and I certainly didnt know it was an option for me. But it was. And Ive never looked back. Ive 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 泫圖弝けs 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. Thats not how finding a job in academia happens! But, of course, neither was my response. I initially said, No. I had one more semester of a non-service dissertation completion fellowship and I wasnt 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 lets 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 crisis management. I miss being in the classroom, mentoring history 泫圖弝けs, and spending time in the archives and courthouses doing research, but this is where I belong right now.
And I am still teaching. Im just teaching in different ways and to people who probably wouldnt consider themselves 泫圖弝けs. Instead of teaching history, Im now teaching others about graduate education and the experiences and needs of graduate 泫圖弝けs.
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 泫圖弝けs and graduate education. Theres not a day that goes by that Im not astounded by what our grad 泫圖弝けs and grad faculty are doing here at UL Lafayette. And a truly great day is a day when Im learning about graduate 泫圖弝けs 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 doresearch, teach, learn, create new knowledgeIve been successful.
I also have to admit that I really, really like Commencement. Theres nothing better than seeing the doctoral 泫圖弝けs 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 泫圖弝け has big plans for graduate education and Im excited by the growing commitment that were seeing to graduate education. UL Lafayette is already a research university with the Carnegie classification of Doctoral Universities: Higher Research Activity, but were on the move. Were committed to increasing both the number of graduate 泫圖弝けs on our campus and the number of doctoral graduates who finish each yearand were going to do so without compromising the high quality graduate education that our 泫圖弝けs receive.
But were not just planning. Were doing. Were working to make sure more people know about our graduate programs. Were highlighting the important research and accomplishments of our graduate 泫圖弝けs and graduate faculty. Were committing more dollars to graduate 泫圖弝け assistantships, fellowships, and scholarships. Were providing more support to teachers and nurses pursuing graduate degrees. Were focusing more time, energy, and resources on retentioncurbing stop-out and drop-out among grad 泫圖弝けsand were taking more time to celebrate the important milestones in our graduate 泫圖弝けs careers. And were watching with pride as our graduate 泫圖弝けs 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 Its not just the money, explains that college graduatesand the higher the degree the betterare enjoying healthier, happier, more fulfilled lives. Theres so much to be said for following your passion and making an impact through research and by creating knowledge!
And its 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 educationto our city, our state, our nation, our worldhas never been more real, more important.
But be smart. Make sure that youre 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?!! Whats 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 Ive grown ever more fond of the national parks that have no cell phone towers anywhere near them.