Council of Faculty Affairs Deans 

The Michigan State University Council of Faculty Affairs Deans (COFAD) provides an  inclusive cross-campus forum for Assistant and Associate Deans and others working in the areas of academic human resources and faculty development. The Council espouses the values set out by the MSU Deans in their October 2019 document, which reads at its beginning: 

“The academic leadership of MSU aspires to foster a campus culture where all individuals can do their best work. Critical to this goal is that the institution’s leaders demonstrate — intentionally, through our practices, policies, and interactions with one another – a commitment to establishing and nurturing a culture that is caring, open, trusting, and safe.”

It is in this spirit that COFAD is committed to take a leadership role to establish and nurture a caring, equitable, inclusive, and diverse culture by sharing information and ideas and by developing, implementing, and assessing best practices to advance faculty and academic staff. We work with faculty governance structures, deans of our respective units, and the Office of the Vice Provost and Associate Vice President of Faculty and Academic Staff Affairs on the behalf of MSU’s faculty and academic staff. COFAD meets monthly during the academic year and elects its own chairperson or co-chairpersons, who serve as the Council’s main contacts. The contact for spring semester 2025 is Ranjan Mukherjee.

Council of Faculty Affairs Deans, 2024-25:

• Agriculture and Natural Resources: Brian Horgan
• Arts and Letters: Delia Fernandez-Jones and Sonja Fritzsche
• Broad College of Business: Ranjani Ananthakrishnan
• Communication Arts and Sciences: Geri Zeldes and Jen Spitzley
• Education: Matthew Koehler
• Engineering: Ranjan Mukherjee and Tamara Bush
• Faculty and Academic Staff Affairs: Teresa Mastin, Kathy Charles, Teresia Hagelberger, Jennie Schaeffer, Kate Birdsall, and Nikki Schmidtke
• Faculty and Academic Staff Development: Marilyn Amey
• Graduate School: Kristen Tollefson
• Health Sciences: Osoken Olomu
• Human Medicine: Carol Parker and Adesuwa Olomu
• International Studies and Programs: Ashley Green
• James Madison: Linda Racioppi
• Law: David Blankfein-Tabachnick
• Libraries: Arlene Weismantel
• Lyman Briggs: Ryan Sweeder and Megan Halpern
• Music: Derrick Fox
• Natural Sciences: Cori Fada-Hartley and Gemma Reguera
• Nursing: Mary Lynn Davis-Ajami and Leigh Small
• Osteopathic Medicine: Sarah Kovach
• Social Science: Carl Davidson
• Undergraduate Education: Amy Martin and Michele Burton
• Veterinary Medicine: TBD