Graduate Council

South Dakota State University Graduate Council

The SDSU Graduate Council was formed to help articulate a vision of excellence for the graduate community. Members provide quality control for all aspects of graduate education and maintain equitable standards across all academic disciplines. The Graduate Council helps define what graduate education is and what it is not, bringing an institution-wide perspective to all post baccalaureate endeavors and providing an interdisciplinary perspective. The Graduate Council serves not only as an advocate for graduate education, but to enhance the intellectual community of scholars among both graduate students and faculty. Main goals include emphasizing the importance of adequately training graduate students and developing ways for graduate education to contribute to and enhance undergraduate education. The Graduate Council provides support for the Graduate School and serves as an advocate for issues and constituencies critical to the success of graduate programs.

2024-2025 Graduate Council Members

• Nicole Lounsbery, director of Graduate School
• Kristi Tornquist, dean of the library

• Benoit St Pierre, associate professor of animal science
• Srinivas Janaswamy, associate professor of dairy and food science
• David Clay, professor of agronomy, horticulture and plant science (alt)
• Sharon Smith, professor of English and interdisciplinary studies
• Zhiguang (Gerald) Wang, professor of Ness School of Management and Economics
• Paul Baggett, associate professor of English and interdisciplinary studies (alt)
• Erin Lavender-Stott, associate professor of School of Education, Counseling and Human Development
• Tony Durr, associate professor of School of Education, Counseling and Human Development
• Rouzbeh Ghabchi, associate professor of civil and environmental engineering
• Semhar Michael, associate professor of mathematics and statistics (alt)
• Cheng Zhang, associate professor of chemistry and biochemistry
• Xiuqing Wang, professor of biology and microbiology 
• George White, professor of geography and geospatial sciences (alt)
• Alyssa Zweifel, assistant professor of nursing
• Brittany Brennan, assistant professor of graduate nursing
• Danielle Schievelbein, assistant professor of nursing (alt)
• Josh Reineke, associate professor of pharmaceutical sciences 
• Gudiseva Chandrasekher, associate professor of pharmaceutical sciences 
• Jim Amell, Associate professor of allied and population health (alt)