New associate dean of finance brings multifaceted experience to the School of Health Professions
Associate Dean of Finance Chermale Casem, MBA, PHR, considers herself an operational strategist who leverages the skills she honed while leading a nonprofit to strike the necessary balance between the big picture and the details in any given project.
“You always have to be mindful of the big picture,” she said. “It’s not only how do programs operate, but what are the human and financial resources needed for them to operate. So, I’m looking at all of the pieces and how they fit together — and how to make the best use of limited resources.”
Casem brings that commitment to fostering success — as well as robust career experience in both the private and public sector in banking, grant administration, nonprofit and higher education roles — to the School of Health Professions, which she joined in October.
“I’m here as a partner,” she said. “My goal is to always get to a ‘yes.’ What is it that my department can do – or I can do – in my role to support the goals of each department for them to be successful in the delivery of their academic program?”
A foundation in banking, economic development and asset building
Casem most recently served as executive assistant dean for finance, operations and strategic initiatives at the College of Health Professions at The University of Tennessee Health Science Center. But higher education was not the focus of her early career; after graduating with a degree in finance, she worked as a commercial loan officer. Before long, she joined the Federal Reserve in the Memphis branch of the 8th District, where she served as an analyst for the chair of the cash advisory group for the Federal Reserve system. “I got to do some high-level financial analysis, especially in white papers in the areas of currency processing,” Casem said.
Further along in her career journey, she honed her accounting, payroll and budgeting skills for a company with more than 1,000 employees in three states. She decided to start her own consulting firm, helping small businesses access the capital needed to pursue their dreams, while homeschooling her children. “My love was really with small businesses, because they needed the help,” she said. “I started consulting, helping them with loan proposals because I knew what lenders were looking for and how to package that so that they could have access to capital.”
When one of her clients asked her to help him start a nonprofit, she did her research — and soon added a nonprofit arm to her consulting business. That work led her to a role with a national nonprofit intermediary, for which she eventually served as chief operating officer.
The move to higher education
For Casem, the transition into higher education was a natural step. Before stepping onto a university campus, she had already collaborated with colleges and universities through her nonprofit leadership in workforce and economic development. “That experience opened my eyes to how higher education can drive community impact,” she recalled.
Casem joined the University of Memphis’ Loewenberg College of Nursing as a business officer, where she quickly made her mark. Her background in operations and grants management led to a promotion as director of strategic partnerships, a role that allowed her to strengthen the college’s external partnerships and funding opportunities. During her time there, Casem helped grow the college’s external funding portfolio six-fold — from roughly $1 million to $7.4 million in just one year. One of her proudest accomplishments was leading the proposal for the largest single federal grant in the college’s history: a $3.24 million award from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) to expand and diversify the nursing workforce serving rural and underserved communities across West Tennessee.
Reflecting on that experience, Casem said it reinforced her passion for building systems that support both institutional goals and community needs. “Every grant, every partnership, is ultimately about people — expanding access, creating opportunity and helping others succeed.”
Casem brought that same perspective when she moved to The University of Tennessee Health Science Center College of Health Professions, where she continued to champion innovation, collaboration and equity in higher education. Casem initially served as assistant dean of finance and administration. She was the primary investigator on a $3.25 million HRSA grant that supported a career pipeline program designed to help educationally and economically disadvantaged health professions students at different stages of their educational journey — also the largest single federal grant in the college’s history.
Looking ahead
Casem is pursuing a PhD in public administration from Tennessee State University, with an expected completion of December 2026. At fewer than two months into her role in the School of Health Professions, Casem is listening and learning about the departments and programs to figure out how she can support their goals.
“I do have a strong affinity for these disciplines,” she said of the health professions. “To me, it keeps the work interesting and exciting, but also lends itself to creativity in thinking not only how do these disciplines operate separately but also how can they collaborate for mission accomplishment and student success?”