Office Leadership and Staff

After joining the Office of Faculty Affairs as Vice Provost in August, 2017, Kathy Bieschke was elevated to Senior Vice Provost in July 2024. As Senior Vice Provost, she leads both the Office of Faculty Affairs and the Office of Undergraduate Education. She earned a B.S. in Psychology and an M.S. in Clinical Psychology from Illinois State University, and a Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology in 1991 from Michigan State University. She joined the faculty at Penn State University in 1991 and is a professor of education. Bieschke was an administrative fellow for Penn State’s Executive Vice President and Provost in 2012-2013. She served as Head of Educational Psychology, Counseling, and Special Education from 2013-2016, and as Interim Dean of the Schreyer Honors College in 2016-2017.

Areas of Responsibility:

• Faculty affairs including policies, academic human resources, and leadership and faculty development activities
  
• University Promotion and Tenure
  
• Executive searches
• Liaises with University Faculty Senate and the Big Ten Academic Alliance.

Abby Diehl has served as Associate Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs at Penn State since July 2024 and as Assistant Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs since 2020. Prior to her roles in the Office of Faculty Affairs, Diehl served as assistant dean for career development and engaged learning in Penn State’s College of Health and Human Development. In that role and in other roles in the college over the span of 20 years, her areas of responsibility included alumni relations, leadership initiatives, education abroad, and communications. She also served as a Penn State Administrative Fellow during the 2012-13 academic year. She received her Ph.D. in higher education in 2007, an M.Ed. in higher education in 2001, and a B.A. in advertising and public relations in 1996, all from Penn State.

Areas of Responsibility:

• Compliance with academic HR policies and data pertaining to faculty and the development of reports and information that inform University decision-making
• Policies and practices related to non-tenure-line faculty appointments and promotion; sabbatical leaves and phased retirements