Eileen Gravani Named Professional Studies Associate Dean at SUNY Cortland
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CORTLAND, NY (05/20/2008)(readMedia)-- Eileen Gravani of Ithaca, N.Y., who has served on the SUNY Cortland faculty for more than 27 years, was appointed associate dean for the College’s School of Professional Studies on May 8.
Gravani, who has served as interim associate dean since Jan. 2, reports to the dean of professional studies.
Her responsibilities include reviewing and revising curricula for the departments in the School of Professional Studies, reviewing transfer articulation agreements, approving transfer credit, monitoring students’ academic progress, reviewing applications for re-admission, interviewing students for study abroad, reviewing students’ eligibility for graduation and processing applications for leaves of absence and medical withdrawals.
“Having served one semester in this role, I know that one thing I will focus on is helping those students who spend their first semester digging themselves into a hole, perhaps by not attending classes,” Gravani said. “The second semester is when we see them trying to dig themselves back out again. I will explore ways to help them do some repair before it gets that far along.”
Gravani joined the College in 1980 as an instructor in the Speech Pathology and Audiology Department. She was promoted to assistant professor in 1991 and to associate professor in 2006. Gravani chaired her department from 1993-99.
She earned a doctorate in developmental psychology from Cornell University, where her major concentration was on language and cognition and where she served as a research assistant while completing her studies. Gravani also has a master’s degree in speech pathology from Northwestern University and a bachelor’s degree in biology from Loyola University.
She has a Certificate of Clinical Competence in Speech Pathology from the American Speech and Hearing Association, a New York State license to practice in speech pathology and has New York State Permanent Certification as a teacher of individuals with speech and hearing disabilities.
The author of several book chapters and co-editor of a text on speech language and hearing programs in public schools, she is also a frequent public presenter at national, statewide, regional and local professional conferences. Recently, she was invited to speak on “Strategies for Teaching Phoneme Segmentation to Preschool Children” at the 35th Annual Conference on Dyslexia and Related Learning Disabilities in New York City.
A frequent volunteer in her community, Gravani has worked since 2000 on a cooperative research project with officials at Cortland County CAPCO Head Start, providing teacher training and intervention to children in Head Start classrooms. Since 1994, she has served on the executive committee and board of directors of the Ithaca Community Childcare Center.
Gravani grew up in Chicago, graduating from St. Scholastica Academy (High School). Her husband, Robert, is a professor in the Food Science Department at Cornell University’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. They have a daughter, Kristen, who is a senior at Cornell University, and a son, Steven, who is a senior at Ithaca High School.
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