Current Initiatives

Graduate Education

Janet Shapiro, the Dean of the GSSWSR, is working with President Cadge as a special advisor for graduate education at Bryn Mawr. In this role, she is collaborating with the Dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, the provost's office, Institutional Research, Graduate Admissions, and many faculty and staff in graduate departments and programs. Insights gained from this work will be used to address three primary questions. 

• What are the unique opportunities for doctoral and graduate study at Bryn Mawr College? 
• How can we strengthen the context and place of graduate students at Bryn Mawr College? 
• How do we articulate the college’s academic value proposition in a way that centers graduate and undergraduate students and the unique possible relationships between them as well as with faculty? 

Early work has included discussions with many current faculty teaching in graduate programs, a "Start/Stop/Continue" survey of graduate students at Bryn Mawr, and a review of the literature on best practices for graduate student mentorship. In addition, we are working with an outside consultant to develop a better understanding of outcomes and career trajectories of students who graduate from our programs. From this work, a beginning understanding of the graduate programs’ strengths, challenges, and opportunities is emerging.

Rebalancing Workload

The Rebalancing Faculty Workload Committee (RFWC) was assembled by President Cassidy and Provost Harte in the Spring of 2024 to craft a path forward for renewed excellence at Bryn Mawr College in teaching, scholarship, and service that robustly considers the complex demands on the time and energy of its faculty. The Committee completed a “Proposal to Rebalance Faculty Workload” in May 2025 that was shared with President Cadge, who shared it with the Board of Trustees. Central to the plan is a 2-2 course load for tenured and tenure-track faculty and an expansion of the faculty to ensure that our curriculum is properly staffed. In the 2025-26 academic year, with a newly elected RFWC, the Committee on Academic Priorities and the President will collaborate to plan the beginnings of the 2-2 course load implementation.