UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — The Penn State College of Education has named Elizabeth Prosek as its inaugural director of Graduate Education.

Prosek, whose professional background is in clinical mental health counseling, has been a Penn State faculty member since 2019. She has served as emphasis coordinator to master’s and doctoral programs and as professor-in-charge of the counselor education graduate program.

Additionally, Prosek was chair of the college’s Faculty Council from 2021 to 2024. More recently, she was selected as a 2026 Big Ten Academic Alliance Academic Leadership Program Fellow.

“This is a new position for the college, so I have the fun — and slightly daunting — task of learning the associated tasks, while also wanting to integrate my vision as we collectively define the expectations for the director,” Prosek said. “Mainly, I serve as a resource and collaborator for our program leaders — professors-in-charge, directors and department heads — as they navigate everything from J. Jeffrey and Ann Marie Fox Graduate School policy to curriculum planning to student support.”

Graduate education in the college previously was included as part of the portfolio for the Associate Dean of Undergraduate and Graduate Education.

But a recent restructuring of college leadership has led to graduate education becoming part of the Associate Dean for Research, Graduate Education, and Outreach portfolio.

"Dr. Prosek brings graduate program leadership experience, knowledge of University policies and offices, and a genuine commitment to student support and data-driven decision-making,” said College of Education Dean Gwendolyn Lloyd. “I’m delighted to have her in this new college-wide role, where she will be positioned to facilitate communication between students, staff, program faculty and academic leaders, helping to strengthen resources and supports across the college. I’m confident her leadership will advance excellence across our graduate programs."

Outside of Penn State, Prosek has done program evaluation work, helping organizations use data to tell their story in ways that genuinely reflect their outcomes and strengths.

“Most of my program evaluation work is related to my research area in military counseling,” she said. “For my profession, my service and leadership are often related to research, such as journal editorial boards.”

Prosek helped develop a statewide Research Symposium initiative through the Texas Association for Counselor Education and Supervision, aimed at demystifying the research process for graduate students and early-career professionals — work that speaks directly to her commitment to graduate student development.

Prosek said her new role involves navigating sensitive conversations — whether that’s helping a program think through a compliance issue or having honest discussions about curriculum overlap between programs.

It’s a skill she said she has built over years of committee and leadership work, which has taught her that most tension in these conversations comes from a place of protecting something people care about rather than from bad intent.

“When I approach challenging conversations from that lens, I find a path forward that feels collaborative rather than competitive,” she said.

In her new position, Prosek said she wants program leaders to feel as if they have a “real thought partner” to help them navigate issues such as policy, compliance and tough decisions more easily. She also wants to help programs be able to utilize data more confidently to tell their story so the public can understand their real-world impact.

“I think College of Education graduate programs are often undervalued for the impact they actually have, and I want to help change that narrative, especially as we embark on a new strategic plan cycle,” she said.

Prosek also wants to build out more structured professional development opportunities for College of Education graduate students, from making the research and publication process easier to understand to helping them navigate the academic job market. She would also like to see improved and more frequent collaboration between college programs, whether that’s sharing courses, building sub-tracks and minors across programs that attract graduate students from outside the college or generally thinking of themselves as part of one graduate education community rather than separate silos.

“I’m genuinely excited about this role — not because it comes with easy answers, but because graduate education in the College of Education is facing real challenges right now, from student loan policy changes to visa barriers to shifting enrollment pressures,” Prosek said. “I don’t think any one person solves those challenges alone, but I do think there’s real value in having someone whose job is to help our programs face them together, share what’s working, and make sure our graduate programs get the recognition they deserve for the impact they have — not just within the college, but across the University. I’m looking forward to being part of that work.”