On July 25, Mass Communications graduate student Patrick Merle visited the Graduate School to interview Interim Dean Peggy Gordon Miller. Dean Miller’s term with the TTU Graduate School began in November 2010, and she brings with her a lifetime of experience as a university administrator. She served as president at the University of Akron and at South Dakota State University and chancellor at Indiana University Northwest in addition to several directorships and other positions. Patrick, a seasoned interviewer, is a doctoral student from France.

Patrick began the interview with questions about Dean Miller’s position at the university and how she has been able to incorporate her previous academic experience into this role. According to Dean Miller, her role here is to help with the growth of the university and the Graduate School and to offer solutions to some of the problems that growth presents. Her experience with all aspects of other universities helps her to offer insight to issues associated with the complexities of the Graduate School itself. The TTU Graduate School is not a stand-alone entity but a place that admits and networks all the graduate degree granting colleges to support and advance graduate research and learning. Dean Miller sees the growth of the university and its pursuit of Tier One status as “a natural development as programs get stronger, more recognized and more in demand.” and as we acquire more students who want to pursue this higher level.”

One new agenda that faces the TTU Graduate School involves students who need to pursue graduate education through nontraditional methods such as online seminars and classes and through outreach programs. As a public university Tech has to respond to these new needs and new populations and do so in the most academically appropriate and cost effective ways. This part of Graduate education, Miller says, is still “A work in progress.” But as Dean Miller also told Patrick, “the gold standard will always be the residential campus because they have the libraries, the laboratories, and the critical mass of faculty there. You also need to be willing to diversity, and I think Tech does that.” She describes ideal doctoral students as “intellectually curious, with the discipline to follow up that intellectual curiosity, and the drive to meet the demands the rigorous scholarly degree puts upon them. I also like ones who read the deadlines!” a comment which elicited a laugh of acknowledgement from her doctoral student interviewer.

Patrick turned toward travel funding for students presenting papers at peer-reviewed conferences. He asked if TTU has such a system, about its feasibility, and how it compares to the European model which covers expenses within Europe. Dean Miller assured him that we do have travel funding and gave some explanation on how our system works. She explained that the departments and the Graduate School share costs and efforts are made to cover as many expenses as possible for students who apply. (See article elsewhere in this newsletter about how to apply for travel funding.) She stressed that “it is first come, first served, and last year we used every penny, and next year we will, too.”

Dean Miller and Patrick also discussed a new initiative within the Graduate School for a Humanities-based paper competition this fall, details of which are also within this newsletter. While the Graduate School has long sponsored a yearly poster competition particularly utilized by STEM fields and the College of Education, Miller said that “the humanities, the arts, the letters, and the social sciences were not getting enough exposure” so this paper competition will highlight scholarship in those areas. Other initiatives underway include working with the Texas Tech Press to publish and market books with the University of Chicago, and encouraging competition among thesis and dissertation writers for national competitive scholarships, and increasing scholarship, fellowship, and research award opportunities. She also mentioned a new bridge program and language program being arranged for international students. The Graduate School is also in the process of employing a program director for a Center for Graduate Student Life.

As an international student himself, Patrick is particularly interested in the state of international students and their role in the Graduate School. Dean Miller emphasized that enrollment is complex and that the Graduate School “employs four full-time specialists in international enrollment, to work with the two in the Office of International Affairs.” In answer to Patrick’s question about the contributions of international students and their impact on graduate education at TTU, Dean Miller stated that “they broaden our intellectual landscape. In a perfect world, all students would have international experience because as the planet gets smaller it is more and more important for us to have a real sense of our interrelatedness. I think having students from many nations and backgrounds working together is a win for everybody!”

To end his interview with Dean Miller, Patrick chose to borrow from Marcel Proust a questionnaire he developed and which in America has been borrowed by “In the Actor’s Studio” host James Lipton. These questions and answers are below and are perhaps the most telling personal comments made by Dean Miller throughout the session.

Patrick: What is your favorite personal characteristic?
Miller: Authenticity.

Patrick: What would you describe as your main fault or weakness:
Miller: I want to do everything!

Patrick: What do you appreciate most in your friends?
Miller: Loyalty. Ideas. Kindness. And Contributions.

Patrick: If you could, today, change your profession, which profession would you like to attempt?
Miller: I would love to sing opera.

Patrick: What profession would you rather not like to engage in?
Miller: Anything boring.

Patrick: What is your idea of happiness?
Miller: I need to be useful to be happy. That’s why I’ll probably never, ever really retire.

Patrick: What are your favorite and least favorite sounds?
Miller: My favorite sound is music; my least favorite I think is anything related to anger.

Patrick: Who is your favorite person in world history and why?
Miller: I certainly like Catherine the Great, but a lot of things she did I don’t approve of. Having to select is like giving you a nickel and sending you into a candy store: there are too many good things to choose from. Actually, my mother would not be a bad choice either. She certainly was a remarkable woman.

Patrick: What natural talent would you like to possess?
Miller: I would probably be better if I had athletic skills.

Patrick: What is your favorite food?
Miller: Blueberries.

Patrick: What is your leading motto?
Miller: My motto? Well I have always liked “do good and let them say.” Not bad.

Patrick: No, not bad at all. Not bad.