Suzanne Barbour, dean of UNC's graduate school, will be leaving the University at the end of August, according to a campus-wide email that was sent out on Monday morning.
Barbour will become the dean of the graduate school and vice provost for graduate education at Duke University.
Barbour has served as dean of the graduate school at UNC since September 2019, and she also is a professor in the UNC School of Medicine's biochemistry and biophysics department. Before coming to Chapel Hill, she served as dean of the graduate school at the University of Georgia.
"Suzanne has made many contributions during her tenure, and we are grateful for her leadership and service," the email read.
Among those contributions was a policy change that allows graduate-level coursework to count towards both a bachelor's and a master's degree. Barbour also implemented a pilot program that allowed individual programs to become GRE optional.
According to the email, Barbour also advanced diversity, equity and inclusion efforts at the school and helped raise millions of dollars for the school through fundraising efforts.
"Suzanne always puts students first, and we are appreciative of everything she has accomplished at the graduate school during the past three years," the email read.
As the school year approaches, it is not clear who the new dean of the UNC Graduate School will be.
According to the email, the University will announce its plans for graduate school leadership "in the coming days."
