Five Women Appointed to Dean Positions

Regina Cusson was named dean of the School of Nursing at the University of Connecticut. She has been serving as acting dean since last fall. She has been on the faculty at the school since 1998. From 2007 to 2010, Dr. Cusson was associate dean for academic affairs and advanced practice.

Dr. Cusson is a graduate of St. Joseph College in Maryland. She holds a master’s degree and a Ph.D. from the University of Maryland.

Arletha McSwain has been appointed dean of the School of Extended Learning at Norfolk State University. In this position she will provide leadership and academic expertise to support the design, development, and execution of the university’s distance education programs. She has been serving as interim dean.

Dr. McSwain is the former associate dean of extended learning at Florida State College in Jacksonville. She holds a doctorate in early childhood special education from the University of Missouri in Columbia.

Michele Rasmussen was named dean of students at the University of Chicago, effective July 1. Currently, she is dean of the Undergraduate College at Bryn Mawr College in Pennsylvania. She has served in her present position since 2010.

A native of New Zealand, Dr. Rasmussen is a graduate of the University of California at Los Angeles. She holds a Ph.D. in biological anthropology and anatomy from Duke University.

Debra M. McPhee will be the next dean of the Graduate School of Social Service at Fordham University in The Bronx, New York. From 2005 to 2010, she was dean of the School of Social Work at Barry University in Miami. Florida.

A graduate of Saint Mary’s University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Dr. McPhee holds a master of social work degree from Columbia University and a Ph.D. from the University of Toronto.

Elise Fullmer was named director of the School of Social Work at West Virginia University. Her appointment is effective July 1. She has been serving as the director of the Waldron College of Health and Human Services at Radford University in Virginia.

Dr. Fullmer holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Utah and a doctorate in social work from the University at Albany, a campus of the State University of New York system.