Update: George Justice named as MU Graduate School dean

COLUMBIA — MU's new Graduate School dean, George Justice, doesn't officially start the job until May 1. But Justice, with more than nine month as interim dean, is pretty much settled in.

MU announced Thursday that Justice is the new dean of the Graduate School and vice provost for advanced studies.

"It feels more permanent," he said. "I feel validated by the provost and the rest of campus in the work that I've been doing."

Justice, 45, said he hopes to bring people together and focus a collective energy on moving forward as graduate dean. The Graduate School has 6,028 students in 96 master's degree programs, 71 doctoral program and six educational specialist degree programs.

"I want us to be able to harness the best skills across campus to foster innovative programs and the best student support," he said.

He said he'll focus on recruiting a diverse student body and working with the education coordinator for the Mizzou Advantage, a list of assets identifying MU's unique strengths. He said this will allow the school to provide graduate certificates that are innovative, useful to students and academically rigorous.

"We have to figure out what programs students want and how we are able to have the capacity and ability to provide those programs at a very high level," he said.

He said the programs must also recalibrate what graduate education means in a changing world.

Justice has been an MU faculty member since 2002. He served as director of graduate studies for the department of English and assistant and associate dean of the Graduate School. His annual salary for the new position is $145,000.

MU Provost Brian Foster said in a news release that he's been impressed with Justice's positive vision for the Graduate School and his interest in creating campus-wide discussion on the national issues in graduate education.