The University of Louisville online student is a lieutenant in the United States Coast Guard. Serving at Sector Ohio Valley in Louisville as chief of the investigations division, she is responsible for overseeing the response to marine casualties in an area covering over 3,000 miles of navigable waterways on 12 major rivers.

Originally from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Queary has served in the Coast Guard since 2014. She began her career in the Prevention Field at Marine Safety Unit Texas City as an apprentice marine inspector. Queary also served in Marine Safety Unit Chicago where she was the assistant chief of the inspections division, and at Hampton Roads Recruiting Office in Chesapeake, Virginia, as an officer trainee.

Queary says her career highlight was serving in the Houston area in 2017 during Hurricane Harvey relief and recovery operations. She was directly responsible for ensuring that ports reopened safely and timely with minimal impact to commerce. Despite the long hours and complex operations, she also dedicated off-duty personal time to help rebuild homes and restore damaged communities.

She started at UofL in spring 2022. Although there were many factors in her choosing UofL, she said the school’s academic reputation and variety of majors/programs were at the top of her list. She also appreciated that UofL is military friendly.��

With an expected graduation in December 2023, Sasha intends to use her degree continuing to serve as part of the Coast Guard’s recruiting mission. After retirement from the Coast Guard, she plans to use the knowledge, skills and qualifications learned in the program as a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion advocate in the private sector or academia.

Aug 4, 2023, is the 233rd birthday of the U.S. Coast Guard and its precursors, the Revenue Marine, the Revenue Cutter Service and the U.S. Life Saving Service.

The graduate programs that saw the largest growth are business administration, human resource and organization development, educational administration, law and nursing. More than 6,450 graduate students are enrolled for fall 2021.

Conversely, following , the preliminary number of first-time undergraduate degree-seeking students enrolled for fall dropped 6% to 2,693.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has been life-altering for so many, and we are encouraged that more students are seeking post-graduate-level degrees,” said Neeli Bendapudi, UofL’s president. “It is such a thrill to see a vibrant campus once again, and we are confident of a bright future for all our students.”

For the incoming undergraduate class, the five most popular majors are engineering, business, education, biology and psychology. Enrollment in public health programs for both undergraduate and graduate students also continues to be strong with a 19% increase since 2019.

The incoming undergraduate class remains diverse, with almost 20% of students identifying as African American or multiracial, and 7% as Latino.

Here is a snapshot of the 2021 first-time freshman class:

• 47.6% have some college credits
• 20.24% are African American or identify as multiracial
• 7.06% are Hispanic/Latino
• 64.05% live on campus
• 33.05% are first-generation college students
• 25.64 is the average ACT score
• 3.63 is the average high school grade-point average, based on a 4.0 scale
• 23.72% are from outside Kentucky
• 38 states are represented
• 246 are part-time

Margaret Pentecost, assistant dean of the Graduate Student Success Office (GSS) in the College of ����ֱ�� and Human Development, found that freshly popped popcorn did the trick.

In the fall of 2019, when the GSS debuted, Pentecost and her colleagues wanted to make sure the students knew how to find them. In the mornings, they would make sure hot coffee was brewed. And in the afternoons, the aroma of warm popcorn would waft through the building, beckoning visitors.

One year later, amid the COVID-19 global health emergency, the refreshments are a thing of the past (for the time being). But there is one very important message Pentecost wants CEHD graduate students to hear: “We are still here to support students.”

CEHD created the office last year as a way to help graduate students “conceptualize what the graduate school experience is all about,” said Nina Marijanovic, graduate admissions coordinator in GSS. The five-person staff also includes graduate student Spencer Stone; Lynne Ernst, unit business manager and admissions counselor; and Melody Halbleib, program coordinator, senior.

Over one-third of the total enrollment of graduate students at UofL are in CEHD, said Pentecost, a 28-year CEHD staff member and three-time CEHD graduate. She said the total number of graduate students – those at both the master’s and doctoral level – in CEHD ranges between 1,100 to 1,200, but this year that number shot to more than 1,300.

Because their milestones are not the same as those of undergraduates, graduate-level students get focused attention from GSS.

“Our mission is to help graduate students get their degrees in a timely manner,” Pentecost said. “Our question is always, ‘How do we help them move to this next level?’”

“Our graduate programs consistently rank among the best in the country and are in high demand. That has continued to be the case during this COVID-19 health crisis,” said Amy Lingo, interim dean of CEHD. “Our GSS team is dedicated to the needs of our graduate students, who are often juggling work and family demands with their advanced degree programs. We want to ensure that all graduate students achieve their educational goals.”

One of the first things GSS accomplished was a reduction in the amount of paperwork graduate students need to fill out. The center’s staff converted paper forms to online forms that could be dropped into a portal, which served them well when the abrupt shift was made in March to remote learning.  A put all the needs of a CEHD graduate student in one place.

“Since the very first moment I knew I was going to transfer, the Graduate Student Success Center was so helpful by guiding me through all the paperwork I needed to do and connecting me with the departments that could help me during my transfer period,” said Priscilla Calvo, an international student from Costa Rica who is pursuing a master’s degree in sport administration. “One of my first stops during my first visit to campus was their office, and since then, it became my favorite spot to stop by in between my classes to grab a cup of coffee or hot chocolate and hang out with my friends.”

In the spring, the center produced a virtual honors and awards reception.

“Even though that wasn’t one of the things I planned to do for the year, it was a great celebration of our students and our successes,” Pentecost said.

Because having a social environment helps students succeed, Marijanovic, a doctoral student herself, said her focus for fall has been to create as much virtual programming as possible so that graduate students don’t become isolated. Workshops held via Microsoft Teams every Monday from 4 to 4:30 p.m. take on such topics as “Graduate Student Life Skills” and “How to Be Resilient in Graduate School.” Links on the GSS website easily take graduate students to The Graduate School’s PLAN website, filled with helpful information on how to succeed as a graduate student and beyond.

“The office and staff are truly amazing,” said Hayley Seely, a doctoral student in counseling psychology. “From morning check-ins to needed breaks throughout the day, the GSS team is always there as a constant support system.”

But the most important thing graduate students in CEHD need to know is that the Graduate Student Success Office “is the place to come to first, no matter what they need,” Marijanovic said.

For a little while, though, it will be Bring Your Own Popcorn.