Office of the Deans
kelly payne, Senior Associate Dean
Kelly Payne (she/her) joined Hobart and William Smith in 2018. In the Office of the Deans, Dean Payne serves as the advisor for the Laurel Honor Society and Hai Timiai senior honors society. Dean Payne also leads the mentorship efforts of the Laurel Connections program in which honor society students are paired with first-year students. In addition to advising and mentoring students, Dean Payne has experience teaching first-year seminars in the humanities, surveys of American and African American literature, professional development courses, and she has led a study abroad course in Belgium and the Netherlands on political dissidence in literature of the low countries. Dean Payne is a proud first-generation college graduate and the first in her family to earn a doctorate degree. She holds an M.A. and a Ph.D. in English literature from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, a graduate certificate in Nineteenth Century Studies, and a B.A. in English from Saint Mary’s College (Notre Dame, Indiana). She has assumed various faculty and administrative roles in her 20+ years in higher education. She currently serves as chair of the Emerging Scholars Award Committee for the Nineteenth Century Studies Association and has given presentations and webinars through the National Academic Advising Association on advising and ethics and the influence of the writer and theorist bell hooks. She also has published on several topics including nineteenth century reform literature, academic advising in the U.S. and the Civil Rights Movement, and on the significance of personal narratives in the education of first-generation college students.
david mapstone '93, P'21, Associate Dean
Dean Mapstone works primarily with first-years and juniors. He develops strong individual relationships with students as well as coordinating a variety of universal programs in his approach to help students make a successful transition to Hobart and William Smith Colleges. Dean Mapstone directs the Back on Track academic support program, spOArk, and the Short-Term summer study abroad program in Wales. Mapstone serves on the Committee on Standards, the Admissions and Retentions Committee, the Committee on Athletics, serves as the advisor to the Druid Society, and is engaged in research on college athletics, student-athlete identity, and youth sport culture. Mapstone earned his BA from Hobart, an MS in Education from the University of Rochester, and is finishing a Ph.D. in Cultural Foundation of Education at Syracuse University. He lives with his wife, Kara, William Smith '92, and three children at Mapleton Farm, a small sustainable farm just east of Geneva.
joseph mink, Associate Dean
Dean Mink joined the HWS Deans Office in 2018 after teaching for 18 years at Bryn Mawr, Mount Holyoke, New College of Florida, and HWS. He holds a B.A. from the University of Denver and an M.A. and Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Pennsylvania. Both his teaching and scholarship are deeply tied to the Liberal Arts. Mink has taught courses in American Studies, Urban Studies, and Critical Social Studies, in addition to courses in American Politics and Political Theory. His research focuses on how material space and embodied practices were employed in the 19th and 20th centuries in an attempt to insure ‘moderation’ in the private and political choices of individuals.
amy green, Assistant Dean
Before joining the Office of the Deans, Amy Green (she/her) was a member of the Writing and Rhetoric Department at Hobart and William Smith for eleven years and a Director of the Writing Colleagues Program for five years, during which time she enjoyed mentoring students, centering their experiences, and building one-on-one relationships with them. The Writing Colleagues Program offered her the opportunity to collaborate with faculty, staff, and students to build writerly communities in disciplines across campus. Dean Green enjoys teaching on topics that feature language as social action, such as her First-Year Seminar, “Writing and Resistance,” and courses like “Literate Lives,” “Writing and the Culture of Reading,” and “Suffrage and Citizenship in American Discourse.” Dean Green holds a B.A. in English and Philosophy from the University of Notre Dame, an M.A. in English from PennWest University, and a Ph.D. in American Literature from West Virginia University. Her research interests include 19th century American women’s literature and the history of activism and resistance in America. Dean Green has been working in higher education for over 30 years, including 25+ years in faculty/instructional roles and 10+ years in advising.
GRETCHEN EMERICK-MARR, ASSISTANT TO THE DEANS
Email: marr@hws.edu
Gretchen (she/her) is an assistant to the Hobart and William Smith Deans. With her friendly voice and outgoing personality, Gretchen is always willing to help students make appointments to see the deans and assist students and/or parents by answering questions or directing them to the best resource. She also supervises and trains all of the wonderful student workers who assist in the office.
Tammy VanSickle, ASSISTANT TO THE DEANS
Email: pillsbury@hws.edu
Tammy VanSickle is an assistant to the Hobart and William Smith Deans. Before joining the Office of the Deans, Tammy held positions with both Dining Services and Conferences and Events. In her current role, Tammy assists students, parents, faculty and staff with academic questions and helps them connect with the deans.