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Announcing New Leadership in Doctoral Education and Academic Affairs

Announcing New Leadership in Doctoral Education and Academic Affairs

New changes at the Graduate College of Social Work (GCSW) expand administrative leadership to MSW and doctoral students with the appointment of two new associate deans.


Sheara Williams Jennings has served as associate professor and researcher at the GCSW for 12 years and PhD Program Director since 2012. She now becomes the college’s Associate Dean for Doctoral Education. The change is effective September 1, 2016.

“Dr. Jennings has served a key role as PhD program director helping to build and strengthen the program and curriculum,” said Alan Dettlaff, dean of the Graduate College of Social Work. “In addition, she provided a key leadership role as Interim Associate Dean of Academic Affairs as we conducted a national search to fill the position. We are excited for her to begin this new role as Associate Dean for Doctoral Education where she will oversee the expansion and growth of the doctoral program.”

The Associate Dean for Doctoral Education is responsible for the recruitment, admissions, retention, career development and matriculation of doctoral students across the domains of academic and student affairs; development, implementation and monitoring of the doctoral curriculum as well as strategic initiatives to advance program quality and rank; compliance with university and external standards and policies; and engagement with alumni and community partners.

“I appreciate Dean Dettlaff’s confidence in my leadership abilities as well as the continued opportunity to play a fundamental role in the development of amazing students who aspire to become social work scholars. I look forward to realizing the GCSW’s vision of exceptional quality and the growth of our doctoral program through teamwork with my colleagues and our students,” said Sheara Williams Jennings.

Nicole Bromfield served as assistant professor and researcher at United Arab Emirates University for six years and earned promotion to associate professor in spring 2016, before joining the GCSW in June 2016. She joined the GCSW as associate professor and the college’s Associate Dean for Academic Affairs in June 2016. Bromfield will be the GCSW’s first associate dean of academic affairs since 2009.

"We are excited to welcome Dr. Bromfield to the college. She brings a wealth of experience,” said Alan Dettlaff, dean of the Graduate College of Social Work. “Since arriving this past summer, she has already demonstrated leadership in her new role.”

The Associate Dean for Academic Affairs (ADAA) is responsible for overseeing the development and implementation of all aspects of the MSW program, which currently has three enrollment models (face-to-face, hybrid, and online) with approximately 460 students. The ADAA is also responsible for overseeing the recruitment of new faculty, faculty workload and orienting new faculty, instructional efforts to ensure teaching excellence, and processes to ensure student success. In addition, the ADAA is responsible for leading the CSWE reaffirmation process, and consulting with the dean to provide strategic direction of the explicit and implicit curriculums.

“I am thrilled to join the diverse and vibrant community of UH and the GCSW. The GCSW has a vision of achieving social, racial, political, and economic justice and we have faculty that are engaged in innovative research, active in the community, and dedicated to student success. The GCSW, under the leadership of our new dean, Alan Dettlaff, is poised to achieve the next level in terms of visibility, rankings, positive impact in our community, and quality of education for our students, and I am looking forward to working side-by-side with the dean to reach this new level in the GCSW,” said Nicole Bromfield.

“Both Drs. Jennings and Bromfield bring tremendous experience, fresh ideas and enthusiastic leadership to their new roles in the College. I am looking forward to seeing all that we will accomplish as a college under their leadership,” Dettlaff said.