Higher education unionization is experiencing unprecedented popularity, particularly among graduate student workers, creating new challenges and opportunities for institutions across the country. Ray explores this rapidly evolving landscape with Jennifer Kulbeck, Assistant Provost at Saint Mary's College of California, who brings a decade of experience working with faculty unions, and Matt Cipriano, Associate Dean at Mount Sinai's Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, who recently navigated conversations of a new graduate student union. Their broad reaching conversation covers insights on maintaining productive relationships while balancing institutional needs in this transformative moment for academic labor relations.
Higher education unionization is experiencing unprecedented popularity, particularly among graduate student workers, creating new challenges and opportunities for institutions across the country. Ray explores this rapidly evolving landscape with Jennifer Kulbeck, Assistant Provost at Saint Mary's College of California, who brings a decade of experience working with faculty unions, and Matt Cipriano, Associate Dean at Mount Sinai's Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, who recently navigated conversations of a new graduate student union. Their broad reaching conversation covers insights on maintaining productive relationships while balancing institutional needs in this transformative moment for academic labor relations.
Guest Names:
Jennifer Kulbeck, Assistant Provost at Saint Mary's College of California
Matt Cipriano, Associate Dean at Mount Sinai's Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences
Guest Socials:
Jennifer - https://www.linkedin.com/in/jenniferkulbeck/
Matt - https://www.linkedin.com/in/matt-cipriano-53941a/
Guest Bios:
Jennifer - Jennifer Kulbeck has over 25 years of experience in higher education with expertise in budget and academic operations management, institutional effectiveness and accreditation, academic personnel and labor relations, interdisciplinary project management, and graduate program development and enrollment management. She currently serves as Assistant Provost and Director of Academic Operations at Saint Mary’s College of California. Jen served on the NAGAP Governing Board from 2012-2022, and received the Distinguished Service Award in 2018. She is also a poet, letterpress printer, and interdisciplinary educator. Her poetry and creative nonfiction have been published in West Marin Review, Storm Cellar, and Pittsburgh Poetry Houses, among others; and her most recent work includes poetry and voice-over work for The Farallonites production in collaboration with Dana Lawton Dances, and a piece in the group exhibit, Interdisciplinary Voice, at the Saint Mary’s College Museum of Art.
Matt - Matthew Cipriano is a seasoned higher education administrator who has dedicated over two decades to advancing graduate education, particularly in medical and biomedical fields. Currently serving as Associate Dean of Administration and Operations at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Cipriano has established himself as a transformative leader in graduate enrollment management and institutional operations. During his tenure at Weill Cornell Medical School, he successfully enhanced both the quality and quantity of the applicant pool, while demonstrating exceptional fiscal stewardship through his management of a $7 million annual budget. His collaborative leadership style has fostered valuable partnerships across departments and institutions, and his expertise has been recognized at the national level through his service on the Board of Directors of NAGAP, the Association for Graduate Enrollment Management.