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From pupil to student to prof and section chair, Dr. Kara Zografos’ past with Fresno State dates backmost astir 20 years. Now she volition usher successful a caller epoch arsenic dean of the College of Health and Human Services astatine Fresno State. She antecedently served arsenic interim dean of the assemblage since autumn 2023.
“I americium assured Dr. Zografos volition proceed to supply outstanding enactment to the College of Health and Human Services, the assemblage and its community,” said Dr. Xuanning Fu, Fresno State’s provost and vice president for Academic Affairs. “Dr. Zografos has devoted each of her nonrecreational vocation to Fresno State and, arsenic such, has a heavy appreciation for the university’s ngo and values, and is dedicated to advancing the assemblage successful preparing the adjacent procreation of leaders to code the captious issues successful wellness and quality services successful our portion and beyond.”
A two-time Fresno State alumna, Zografos earned her bachelor’s grade successful wellness science, with an enactment successful assemblage wellness successful 1999 and aboriginal earned her Master of Public Health grade from the assemblage successful 2002 earlier heading to Southern California wherever she completed her doctorate of wellness education, with an accent successful epidemiology, from Loma Linda University.
Zografos excelled astatine Loma Linda University, receiving the Chancellor’s Award successful 2006. Toward the extremity of her four-year doctorate program, she returned to the Central Valley for her dissertation probe connected asthma and started teaching nationalist wellness courses astatine Fresno State part-time earlier applying for a full-time presumption successful 2007.
Her household and emotion of the Valley, arsenic good arsenic a deep-rooted tendency to service the assemblage wherever she earned her undergraduate education, is yet what led Zografos backmost to Fresno State. Over the past 18 years, Zografos has worked up the ranks wrong the Department of Public Health from lecturer to afloat professor, wherever she besides served arsenic manager of the Master of Public Health programme and arsenic section seat for 7 years.
In her past 2 years arsenic section chair, Zografos concurrently took connected a caller enactment accidental arsenic peculiar adjunct to past dean, Dr. Denise Seabert. In that role, Zografos led galore important college-wide initiatives, including formalizing policies and procedures astir assemblage committees, teaching assignments of honors programme courses and scholarships – successful summation to mentoring module successful assistance programs.
As interim dean, Zografos played a captious relation arsenic the assemblage appraisal coordinator, helping galore programs execute palmy accreditation and tract sojourn feedback. She besides remained committed to enactment astir diversity, equity and inclusion, which led to assorted college-wide grooming opportunities for module and staff. As a erstwhile module subordinate herself, Zografos remained committed to module occurrence and aided successful efforts to enactment module with probe and grants, arsenic good arsenic serving arsenic a mentor.
Her efforts to turn the nursing workforce successful the portion led to an inaugural concern with the School of Nursing astatine Fresno State and Valley Children’s Hospital to make a hospital-based ASN-to-BSN cohort, which allows registered nurses astatine Valley Children’s the accidental to gain their bachelor’s degrees successful nursing astatine Fresno State, portion continuing to service the section pediatric population.
Through a San Joaquin Valley grant, aimed astatine K-16 initiatives, Zografos helped physique partnerships with K-12 schools and assemblage colleges to make caller and/or fortify transportation pathways, ensuring preparedness for transportation students specifically funny successful careers wrong wellness and quality services.
In her caller dean role, Zografos said she has a fewer goals successful caput – pb with compassion portion prioritizing the occurrence of the implicit 4,000 students successful the assemblage and broaden the college’s estimation arsenic a premier higher acquisition institution.
The College of Health and Human Services prepares students for professions successful communicative sciences and deaf studies, kinesiology, nursing, carnal therapy, nationalist health, recreation medication and societal work; and besides houses some the Air Force ROTC and Army ROTC programs, arsenic good arsenic 5 interdisciplinary probe centers and institutes. Two of the 3 doctoral programs astatine the assemblage beryllium wrong the college.
Zografos said she plans to enactment intimately with each world section and schoolhouse to instrumentality high-impact experiences for each students to guarantee they are vocation acceptable by the clip they graduate. In addition, she intends to conscionable the increasing wellness attraction needs of the portion and aspires to make an occupational therapy doctorate program, arsenic good arsenic a certified registered caregiver anesthetist programme for the School of Nursing.
“As dean, I look guardant to contributing to Fresno State’s ngo by fostering a dynamic and inclusive world environment,” Zografos said. “As an alumna and erstwhile first-generation student, I admit the transformative powerfulness of higher acquisition and americium profoundly committed to ensuring our students person entree to opportunities that empower them to succeed.”
