Associate Dean of Student Services for the Graduate School
Sara Anne Tompkins is the associate dean for student services in the Graduate School and an associate professor in the Department of Psychology. In her role, she supports graduate students through services and initiatives that strengthen mental health, foster community, and enhance academic success. She helps students and faculty resolve conflicts that may arise in graduate school.
She has been active on the Graduate Student Mental Health and Wellness Task Force and with the Graduate Center for Inclusive Mentoring since 2019. She has also served as a graduate programming coordinator for six years.
Drawing on her strength-based work across higher education, nonprofits, and community settings—as well as years of experience working directly with graduate students, Tompkins brings both expertise and compassion to addressing the nationwide mental health crisis in graduate education. At the Graduate School, she has advanced several initiatives, including developing MentorUp, a training session designed to help students navigate mentoring relationships; providing resources to faculty who support students facing mental health challenges; and creating clearer guidance on non-coursework requirements within graduate curricula. She is also actively engaged in national work and conversations around expanding accessible graduate education for neurodivergent students.
Tompkins earned her bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of Central Florida, her master’s degree in industrial/organizational psychology from the University of West Florida, a doctorate in applied social psychology from CSU, and completed a postdoctoral fellowship in health psychology at the University of Colorado and subsequently worked with CSU Extension.