By Jesse Dolojan, Staff Writer 

On April 5, Xavier University announced that Dr. Amy Overman will be the new Dean of the College of Professional Sciences beginning on July 8, 2024. 

Overman will be coming from Elon University where she was a professor and Assistant Provost for Scholarship and Creative Activity. During her time at Elon University, she spearheaded initiatives seeking grants and mentored students as a professor.  

She has extensive experience in the field of neuroscience, and at Elon she co-authored many scholarly works related to neuroscience with student researchers.  

Overman’s research has been funded by the National Institutes of Health since 2016, and in 2022 she became a part of the Psychonomic Society.  

Members of the Psychonomic Society are often most interested in applying their studies to health research, how technology is used for psychology research, and educating people on the intricacies of psychology. 

Overman’s biggest objectives as a dean at Xavier are to learn about everyone in the college and to help them build on their strengths. 

“Some of my top priorities are to further increase student success in the college’s undergraduate and graduate programs, to develop new connections between departments and programs, to strengthen relationships with the community and alumni and to expand the college’s resources for teaching, research, and community engagement,” Overman said. 

Senior criminal justice major Morgan Naranjo expressed a desire for the opportunity to establish a professional relationship with the dean during her time at Xavier.  

Naranjo emphasized that networking is critical, and that establishing a professional connection with a Dean would only help a student.  

First-year psychology major Jack Zobrist also looks forward to the opportunity to connect with the new dean. 

“I think it would be great for students to meet with the dean. I would say maybe once every year, you go and have a meeting with the dean and just see how your progression is going through Xavier, ” Zobrist said. 

Overman acknowledges that connecting with students is one of her primary goals as a new dean. 

“Getting to know students and listening to student voices is essential. I plan to hold regular informal gatherings such as ‘pizza with the dean’ so that I can directly hear from students and build relationships with them” Overman shared. 

For areas of improvement in the College of Professional Sciences, Naranjo stressed the importance of having lab equipment for proper experiments and learning engagement. 

“I feel like criminal justice gets less focus in terms of things like our labs and stuff like that compared to the other labs across campus,” Naranjo said, “But I am sure that there are always ways that labs and equipment can be improved, because technology improves so quickly.” 

Overman made it clear that her main goal as the new dean is to help students learn about their interests and meet their goals.  

“My favorite part of research has always been mentoring students in my laboratory — helping them develop professionally and then getting to see their success as they take their skills and knowledge out into the world,” Overman said. 

“As dean, I will have the opportunity to focus full-time on promoting success for students, staff and faculty.”