UM-Dearborn announces two new leadership appointments

UM-Dearborn announced two new leadership appointments over the past week. On Friday, Chancellor Domenico Grasso announced that Leigh McGrath, currently the director of business operations in the College of Engineering and Computer Science, is starting this fall as UM-Dearborn’s interim budget director. In her new role, McGrath will lead campuswide budget development and planning, oversee the university’s recently launched zero-based budget initiative, and explore the development and implementation of a “Responsibility Center Management” budget system.

McGrath brings more than 20 years of experience in administrative, research and academic units on the Dearborn and Ann Arbor campuses. Her work in the engineering colleges on both campuses has earned her multiple honors, including a nomination for the 2016 Chancellor's Staff Recognition Award, the 2013 "U Make A Difference" Award and a nomination for the 2012 College of Engineering Judith A. Pitney Staff Service Career Award. “I have full confidence that she will do a great job in this new position and will continue to shape the future of UM-Dearborn in a positive direction,” Grasso wrote in his announcement to campus. “I look forward to working with Leigh to ensure that we continue to offer an excellent, accessible and affordable education to our students today while capturing opportunities for tomorrow.” 

On Monday, Provost Sue Alcock announced that — pending approval by the Board of Regents — Philosophy Professor and Mardigian Library Director Maureen Linker will take on an additional role as Associate Provost. In that position, she will oversee the academic portfolio of graduate programs, coordinate and promote project-based learning across campus, and support faculty development initiatives.

Linker will continue in her role as library director. During her two years in that position, she has overseen a number of new programs that Alcock says creatively “position the library as an interdisciplinary center for student engagement, campus activity and faculty support.” These include course redesign “spa days” with the HUB, 24/7 Final Jam exam week activities, and the new project-based learning IDEA Laboratory. As a professor of philosophy, Linker’s research focuses on knowledge acquisition, production and evaluation as a collective, rather than individual, achievement. During her time at UM-Dearborn, she has also served as chair of the Department of Literature, Philosophy, and the Arts and director of the Women’s and Gender Studies program. Most recently, she co-chaired the Scholar-Teacher working group for the campuswide strategic planning effort. 

Grasso also announced that he is holding off on filling the currently vacant vice chancellor for business affairs role in order to explore potential alternatives to the university’s current leadership structure. For the foreseeable future, Human Resources, Police and Public Safety (which jointly reports to the U-M Department of Public Safety and Security), Financial Services and Facilities Operations will report directly to the chancellor.