Graduate Leaders Institute Kickoff inspires community

September 23, 2025

Published in: Affinity, School of Graduate Studies

During monthly sessions, graduate program directors and faculty can connect, share ideas and discuss key topics in graduate education

Soojung Kim addresses group — Soojung Kim, interim dean of the UND School of Graduate Studies, addresses an audience of graduate program directors and graduate faculty at the Graduate Leaders Institute gathering on Sept. 16. Photo by Joonghwa Lee, chair and graduate program director in the Department of Communication at UND.

By Madison Dame

UND School of Graduate Studies leaders met for the start of the Graduate Leaders Institute on Sept. 16 and left feeling closer to their community.

The program began with the “listening tour” conversations Soojung Kim, interim dean of the School of Graduate Studies, had with the school’s program directors. The Graduate Leaders Institute idea came specifically from a conversation she had with Ashley Bayne, assistant director of the Graduate Studies in Public Health program.

“The Institute’s space is for you,” Kim said, addressing the various program directors. “To share stories like these, to ask questions, to learn from each other and most importantly, to remind ourselves why this work matters.”

Graduate student Impact

UND Provost Eric Link offered three focal points for the graduate program directors: student experience, dynamics and quality.

“I’m really excited to see what we can do together in partnership and with Kim’s leadership,” he said.

UND is the leader in graduating master’s- and doctoral-degree students in the state of North Dakota, Link said, so it is important the students have good experiences.

“Any work that we do here, at any level, undergraduate or graduate, it has to be focused on student experience and the opportunities we provide students to achieve their goals,” Link said. “If we’re student focused, I think we’ll be able to help them get the most out of their experience, and we’ll be able to draw the most out of them.”

Link talked several times about delivering a quality graduate education to students and noted how important that is institutionally and for the students and the state.

“I would encourage all of us in the room to continue to think about how we can create programs, curricula and support services,” Link said. “To think about the impact we’re going to have on our state & beyond.”

Eric Link, UND provost and vice president for Academic Affairs, was among the speakers at the Graduate Leaders Institute on Sept. 16, Photo by Joonghwa Lee, chair and graduate program director for the Department of Communication at UND.

Why Grad School leaders matter

Kim recalled a story about a student who was an active-duty Army officer while pursuing a doctoral degree in strategic communication – her area of expertise.

While still a student, he was deployed to Poland when Ukraine and Russia went to war, she said. So, he slipped in his schoolwork and was at risk of being dismissed from the program.

Kim saw his potential and intervened to help. The student will defend his dissertation in December, and Kim is confident that his perseverance helped him to write an “outstanding dissertation.”

“For him, it’s not just a doctoral degree,” Kim said. “It represents a new opportunity to pursue an academic career after faithfully serving our country.”

Stories like those are the reason why the work of the leaders of the School of Graduate Studies matters, she said. In particular, “it shows how the commitment of graduate directors and advisors can change the trajectory of a student’s life.”

Making success possible

The Graduate Leaders Institute has several speakers lined up and will be held in a hybrid format on the first Monday of each month in the Gershman Graduate Center and on Zoom.

“Graduate students are at the heart of UND’s mission. And you, as graduate leaders,” Kim said, “are the ones who help make their success possible.”