From: Joshua Barker, Dean, School of Graduate Studies & Vice-Provost, Graduate Research and Education
Date: May 20, 2021
Re: Announcement of the Vice-Dean, Research and Program Innovation at the School of Graduate Studies (PDAD&C #73)

I am pleased to announce that the Agenda Committee of Academic Board has approved the appointment of Professor Vina Goghari as Vice-Dean, Research and Program Innovation at the School of Graduate Studies for a five-year term starting July 1, 2021.

Professor Goghari is currently the Graduate Chair of the Department of Psychological Clinical Science at UTSC.  Since joining the program in 2016, Professor Goghari  has seen the program through its first Canadian Psychological Association Accreditation, its first University of Toronto Quality Assurance Process (UTQAP), and its first PhD graduations. In all her work, she is dedicated to supporting inclusive excellence, social justice, and mentorship. She has served on a number of key equity bodies, including the Mentoring Excellence and Diversity Steering Group at UTSC and the SGS Mental Health Advisory Committee. She has created a graduate student reviewer mentorship program for the journal Canadian Psychology, participated in Accreditation Standard revisions for the Canadian Psychological Association, and created a mentorship program for Associate Professors in the Department of Psychology at UTSC.  In 2019, she oversaw a Special Issue on Graduate Education, Research, and Professional Training in Psychology. In 2020, she produced a first-author paper, Experiences and Learnings From Professional Psychology Training Partners During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Impacts, Challenges, and Opportunities. For her contributions to training, in 2021 she was awarded two prestigious national awards: the Canadian Psychological Association Award for Distinguished Contributions to Education and Training in Psychology and the Canadian Council of Professional Psychology Program Award for Excellence in Professional Training – Academic.

Professor Goghari has an active research program in clinical psychological science advancing knowledge about the causes, course and outcome, and treatment of psychosis and mood disorders, which has been funded by all three tri-council funding agencies. She is currently Editor of Canadian Psychology, the flagship journal of the Canadian Psychological Association, and an Associate Editor of Clinical Psychological Science.

Professor Goghari completed her PhD in clinical psychology from the University of Minnesota in 2009 and joined the University of Calgary as an assistant professor in July 2009. She joined the University of Toronto in July 2016.

Professor Goghari’s commitment to excellence in graduate education, research, and professional training will be integral to the continued success of many School of Graduate Studies initiatives.

Please join me in congratulating Professor Goghari on this appointment.