Office of the Dean

The Office of Undergraduate Education (UGE) shapes, supports and enhances the undergraduate educational experience at UB. Led by the dean of undergraduate education, our office focuses on making your experience academically excellent so you can meet and exceed your goals. 

Ann Bisantz is the dean of undergraduate education. Through oversight of academic policies and curriculum management, Bisantz's leadership enables all UB undergraduate students to achieve academic excellence. As dean, Bisantz stewards the strategic vision for the governance and management of UB’s 21st-century general education program, the UB Curriculum, the Office of Experiential Learning and Research, the Center for Excellence in Writing and the University Honors College. Dean Bisantz also provides strategic leadership for campus-wide undergraduate advising and oversight of the Exploratory and Pre-Professional Advising Center and the university’s Finish in 4 program.

Dean since 2018, Bisantz has led the gateway course initiative, which seeks to address learning gaps and improve pedagogy in key courses; collaborated on student success initiatives, including summer bridge courses and success coach models; overseen the full-scale implementation of the UB Curriculum; implemented efforts to streamline connecting first-year students (freshmen) to majors; and has led undergraduate education units in updating and transforming programming to meet the needs of today’s students. Bisantz co-chaired the Curriculum and Pedagogy Committee for the President’s Advisory Council on Race, is the co-chair of the Middles States Higher Education accreditation effort and is the 2022 chair of UB’s SEFA Campaign for the Community. Bisantz is a professor and past chair of UB's Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, where she led successful undergraduate accreditation efforts, developed new undergraduate and graduate programs, and expanded and diversified the ISE faculty.

Bisantz earned a PhD from the Georgia Institute of Technology and a master’s and bachelor’s degree from UB. Her research areas are cognitive engineering, human decision-making, human-computer interface design and complex work systems analysis. She received the SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Research and Creative Activity in 2015, the Paul M. Fitts Educator Award from the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society in 2017 (where she was also named Fellow in 2013), the HFES WOMAN Mentor award in 2020, and has served on the executive boards of two professional societies. Bisantz joined UB in 1997.

Krista Hanypsiak is the assistant vice provost for undergraduate education, overseeing undergraduate policy and curricular developments and providing leadership for the development of strategic undergraduate initiatives. Hanypsiak has been in higher education for more than 20 years and at UB since 2008, contributing her expertise in curriculum development, management and assessment, strategic planning, student success and liberal arts education. In 2015, Hanypsiak received the SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Professional Service. She holds a master’s degree in higher education from the University of Michigan and a bachelor’s degree from the University of Rochester.

Lindsey Hallman is the director of academic initiatives, working on projects and partnerships that enhance the academic experience and support student success. Prior to this role, Hallman was the senior assistant director of UB Curriculum, where she focused on implementing and assessing UB’s innovative general education program. A proud UB alum, Hallman earned a bachelor’s degree and master’s degree in higher education with a concentration in student affairs at UB. 

Danielle LaMarre-Smith is the director of curriculum for undergraduate education. In this role, she serves as the chief administrator of the university’s general education program, the UB Curriculum. She also coordinates day-to-day operations of undergraduate course and curriculum management. She holds a master’s degree from Canisius College and has been with UB since 2013.

Lisa Tuyn is the director of academic advisement. She coordinates campus-wide academic advisement initiatives, including convening the Advising Administrators group, supports activities related to advisor professional development, promotes the continuous assessment of advising services, and collaborates on a number of projects as a member of several campus committees. Tuyn joined the university in 1998 and has over 24 years of experience working as a senior academic advisor with exploratory and transitional students as well as serving in leadership roles within the Exploratory and Pre-Professional Advising Center and campus community. Tuyn holds a bachelor’s degree in English from Canisius College and a master’s degree in rehabilitation counseling from the University at Buffalo.

Jordyn Wysocki is the curriculum management coordinator, responsible for campus-wide curriculum activities at the undergraduate level and overseeing implementation and day-to-day operations of the curriculum management platform. Wysocki joined undergraduate education from the Office of the Registrar, where she facilitated student degree conferral and academic advisement reports encoding. She holds a master’s degree from Stony Brook University and bachelor’s degree from Daemen College.

Allison Hedberg is the staff assistant in the Office of the Dean of Undergraduate Education. In this role, she supports the dean and assistant vice provost for undergraduate education and serves as a liaison between the dean of undergraduate education and executive staff and department heads and the offices of the president, provost, vice provosts, vice presidents and deans. Previously, Hedberg was the leadership programming coordinator in UB’s Student Life division and the assistant to the president of Erie Community College. Hedberg earned a master’s in higher education with a concentration in student affairs at UB and a bachelor’s degree at St. John Fisher University.