Q&A with Elena Cotos, Graduate College associate dean for professional development

Elena Cotos began her role as associate dean for professional development in the Graduate College last month. She has worked for Iowa State since 2009 and became the director of the Graduate College's Center for Communication Excellence (CCE) in 2015. Cotos also serves as an associate professor of English and earned her Ph.D. in applied linguistics and technology from Iowa State. In her new associate dean role, she will continue to oversee the CCE and will expand professional development programming for graduate students and postdoctoral scholars. She answered a few questions about her new role in the Graduate College.

Cotos

What are you most looking forward to in your associate dean role with the Graduate College?
While I’m excited about all the projects and initiatives I’ll be taking on in my new role, what I most look forward to is devising comprehensive, cohesive, and longitudinal programming for professional development and career planning for graduate students and postdoctoral scholars. I will work towards establishing an effective centralized infrastructure to steer campus-wide professional development, strengthen equity in access to various opportunities and new forms of credentialing, and potentially improve the very fabric of the support offered by the Graduate College.

What do you view as the most important professional development resources for graduate students and postdocs?
Among the different types of professional development resources provided by ISU graduate programs, departments, and academic colleges, and among the myriad of resources available elsewhere, I believe the most important are those that help graduate students and postdocs develop the skills needed to succeed in both the academic and non-academic worlds. One aspect of the new programming I envision is skills-based training complementary to graduate coursework, which would help students map out their academic goals and the steps of their professional development to fit any chosen career path – be it in academe, industry, government, or other domains.  

What attracted you to the opportunity to serve as associate dean in the Graduate College?
First of all, I saw this as an opportunity to become a servant leader who can enhance excellence in graduate education and increase positive impact. And I felt prepared for the challenge. Throughout my 13 years of working in the Graduate College, I gained a solid understanding of its mission, culture, priorities, policies, and day-to-day activities. The priority areas for the associate dean position seemed to align perfectly with my experience and my goals for the future. I must also say that my work in the Graduate College has been and will continue to be consistent with the values that animate my own scholarship, most of which I have translated to the practices, materials, and technologies successfully implemented by the Center for Communication Excellence. Last but not least, I was attracted to this position because it is a unique opportunity to acquire a broader perspective on university affairs and to elevate the Graduate College’s efforts in accomplishing our university’s strategic goals.

What new professional development initiatives do you hope to develop?
Having developed extensive programming in the Center for Communication Excellence, my next step is to expand the focus to other facets of professional development such as mentoring, teamwork and collaboration, networking, leadership, professional ethics, career readiness, etc. My new initiatives will focus on equipping our graduate students and postdocs with important power skills to optimally prepare them for a fast-changing, highly fluid, competitive, and demanding professional world.

Who have your biggest mentors been throughout your education and career?
Two mentors have been my absolute pillars of support at different stages of my career. I am deeply grateful to Carol A. Chapelle, Distinguished Professor and Dean’s Professor in Liberal Arts and Sciences, who was my major professor when I was a graduate student and is still my mentor today. She is a model with all the best qualities of a true academic mentor. I also received invaluable guidance from Holly Bender when she was Associate Director in ISU’s Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching. She inspired me and helped me build confidence and belief in my vision when I was just beginning my career in the Graduate College.

What is the best advice you received as a graduate student?
A very short but very meaningful piece of advice from my major professor was “Just keep doing the right thing!” I would give the same advice to graduate students who strive to build a career of sustained impact.

Share a fun fact about yourself.
My favorite dogs are the Maltese Shih Tzu.