Dr. Patricia Hovis-French, Associate Dean in the School of Graduate Studies, will be fully retiring before the fall semester, after having worked at UMKC since 1968.
She came to the School of Pharmacy originally, as Senior Secretary to the dean, and worked within the School for 18 years.
“At first, I thought I would be working with a bunch of pill pushers. I learned a lot about the field of pharmacy, and I gained a lot of respect for it,” she said. “I never thought that I would be here for 46 years.”
During her time in the School of Pharmacy, Dr. Hovis-French earned her bachelor’s degree. She’d had no college credit before then. She was working with Pharmacy graduate students, with Advancement, and with alumni relations. In 1986, she moved to the School of Graduate Studies under Dr. Marlene Springer.
“She was my first female employer, and she introduced me to the joys of feminine leadership,” she said. “She was a mentor, and she pushed me. There were some women’s organizations within the state that she introduced me to, and she kept nudging me in the directions I needed to go.”
As Manager of Graduate Studies, Dr. Hovis-French started working on her master’s degree. She graduated in 1988 with an MPA and an emphasis in Organizational Behavior. She then started work on her Ph.D. in educational administration. She had several deans and administrators on her doctoral committee, including Gene Eubanks, Joan Gallos, Don Mocker, Jack Krueger, and Eleanor Schwartz. Unofficially, Marvin Querry and Ron MacQuarrie both mentored her, too, as she pursued her doctorate.
“They were all excellent mentors,” she said. “Marvin said I wouldn’t be ready to graduate until I could close my eyes and see the data in my head.”
From Manager of graduate studies, her title then changed to Director of Graduate Student Affairs. Dr. Hovis-French was balancing her time between Academic Affairs and Student Affairs. Under Vice Provost and Dean Marvin Querry, she helped to establish the Interdisciplinary Ph.D. program.
Dr. Querry moved to the Provost position in 1991, and Dr. Ron MacQuarrie entered as SGS dean.
“So I was training yet another dean in Graduate Studies,” Hovis-French said. “We had absolutely the opposite personalities, and we were good for each other’s character. I became more organized because Ron was very linear in the way he approached things. And he was able to deal with chaos a little bit better.”
Shortly after completing her Ph.D. in 1995, two significant life changes happened. The first was good — Dr. Hovis-French was promoted to Assistant Dean and assumed greater responsibilities. The second was personally devastating — she became a widow. It was a time when she had to create completely new personal 5- and 10-year plans. Querry, Schwartz, and MacQuarrie all helped guide her during that period.
“They nominated me to the HERS women’s leadership conference,” she said. “It was a life-changing month-long workshop/institute at Bryn Mawr. I learned to laugh again, and I came back with an immediate plan. I put in enough effort in one year to get to an associate dean position.”
With Dean MacQuarrie, Dr. Hovis-French used Mission Enhancement funds to establish numerous fellowships for doctoral students. This was also the start of the Preparing Future Faculty scholarships and the establishment of guidelines for graduate certificate programs to be officially recognized on transcripts.
In 2001, Dr. Hovis-French was supervising the Interdisicplinary Ph.D. admissions, acted as liaison with Student Affairs for doctoral and graduate students, oversaw the awards programs and English proficiency requirements for international students to become GTAs, and handled graduate assessment. When she retired in 2001, she continued part-time and was able to delegate out the tasks for which she was not as passionate.
“I continued the assessment and GTA processes, as well as the Preparing Future Faculty program,” she said. “I also worked with the PFF steering committee to create the College Teaching and Career Preparation graduate certificate program.”
One thing that had not been in her 5- or 10-year retirement plan was to re-connect with a friend from her high school years and get married again. But that’s just what happened in 2004, thus, the addition of “French” to her name.
Within the PFF program, Dr. Hovis-French says she learns more from the students than they learn from her.
“I’m much more a guide on the side than a sage on the stage,” she said. “I tell them to never just be satisfied with your old yellowed notes that you pull out each semester. Strengthen the things that were good, and tweak the things that didn’t work too well.”
After 13 years of retirement, she says it’s time to hand over everything else.
“The names have changed, the buildings have changed, and I’m pleased to be handing over the PFF program to Jennifer Friend. I know she’ll do wonderful things with it,” Hovis-French said. “I wouldn’t have changed any of my years at UMKC.”
In her retirement, Dr. Hovis-French plans to be more involved in art. During her early retirement years, she completed a second bachelor’s degree in Studio Art at UMKC.
“I want to be more involved with the Table Rock Art Guild, and maybe get involved with the Master Gardeners there. I also want to enjoy watching my children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren,” she said. “As former president of the UMKC Retirees Association, I’ll continue to be part of that for at least 3 years. … My passions will continue for women’s leadership, for minority opportunities in education, and for interdisciplinary study.”
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