Lynn C. White Cloud (she/her/hers) serves as the Assistant Dean for Academic and Student Affairs in the College of Education and Social Services (CESS) at UVM. Lynn is a member of the CESS Dean’s office, is a member of the CESS senior leadership team, has oversight for the CESS Office of Student Services, and co-advises the CESS Student Advisory Board. At UVM Lynn supports and advocates for students as well as provides guidance and thought leadership to university and college leaders. Lynn serves in leadership, collaborative, and advisory roles to over 19 CESS Academic Programs, 80 CESS faculty, 700 CESS undergraduate students, and numerous university and CESS committees. Lynn provides vision, strategic leadership, relationship and professional development, resource stewardship, and policy oversight for student success and retention, and for initiatives, programs, and policies at the nexus of academic and student affairs with DEI and thriving priorities embedded. Additionally, Lynn is the academic co-coordinator for the Individually Designed Major and serves as the CESS lead for incident and crisis management (with over 400 students a semester in field experiences), student care supports and case management, the CESS FTFY Holistic Advising Model, academic and student affairs policy questions, grade exceptions (Incompletes), academic review/standing, among others. Lynn co-leads the CESS DEI strategic planning.
Current committees and work groups include: University Catamount Core Curriculum; University Strategic Enrollment Management; University Integrative Learning; University Diversity Council (CESS rep); University Indigenous Peoples Collective; University Student Services Collaborative (SSC); University Associate Deans; CESS Advising Models; CESS Committee on Student Affairs; CESS Committee on Curricular Affairs; CESS Committee for Equity Action and Diversity; CESS Strategic Planning; co-leading the CESS DEI Action Plan Development; and concluded work with UVM Trio/First Gen; UVM Bias Training pilot; UVM Living and Learning initiatives; Medical Leave Policy development, and, UVM First-Year experience re-visioning.
Lynn identifies as a BIPOC womxn, and a first-generation college student who grew up in a VT rural landscape. Wholeheartedly, Lynn is centered in fostering relationships, equity, justice, and well-being; holistic and integrated approaches to leadership, learning, and change; the vitality of liberal education (AAC&U); transformative education; and the wisdom within reciprocity and honoring multiple ways of knowing. Lynn completed the HERS Institute for Women’s Leadership (in Higher Education), and mid-career, she was awarded NASPA’s NH Mid-Level Administrator award as well as the East Coast Region’s Network award for Educational Equity and Ethnic Diversity, among others.
Lynn holds a M.A. degree in Curriculum, Instruction and Administration in Higher Education from Boston College, and a B.S. degree in Elementary Education, and Responsive Teaching from the University of Vermont. Lynn has completed extensive training and facilitated trainings for colleagues and students in the following: higher education leadership and change, curricular affairs and pedagogy, student affairs, international education, DEI topics and strategies, high impact educational practices, student conduct, community-partnered and place-based education, advising, experiential and active learning, restorative and well-being practices, Title IX, facility design, and risk mitigation and management. Lynn has served on Native American/Indigenous Councils and BIPOC councils, and has facilitated complex community partnership projects with and within sovereign indigenous communities.
Early in her career, Lynn taught in New Orleans and Dallas, and supervised student-teacher practicums in Boston. Since then, Lynn has held leadership positions as the: Assistant Executive Director of the Guarini Institute for International Education at Dartmouth College; Assistant Dean of the William Jewett Tucker Foundation for Service, Spirituality and Social Justice at Dartmouth College; the Assistant Dean of the College (Student Affairs), and Directors of Student Activities and the College Union at Gettysburg College; and Senior Career Counselor at Champlain College, among others. Lynn has overseen comprehensive teams, the design process and development of performing arts and community spaces with individual project budgets up to $1.2 million, major events, sustainable community development partnerships, fellowships, and educational initiatives around the world.
Lynn loves to garden and be in nature, hike, ride bicycles, connect deeply to culture and place, listen and dance to live music, volunteer, visit with artists, create, explore spirituality and the world in wonder, advocate for justice and equity, spend time with friends and her adult son, Sage.
