UC Davis welcomed three new deans last fall in the College of Letters and Science, School of Engineering and School of Veterinary Medicine. Each dean brings a wealth of experience to be able to take on the top job and lead their schools into the future. UC Davis Magazine sat down with them to find out more about their plans.
Estella Atekwana
College of Letters and Science
For Dean Estella Atekwana, student success is top of mind. Since starting the position in August 2021, Atekwana announced a mentoring program that will start this fall for first-generation freshmen and new transfers to match them with current students and help them navigate their first year on campus. The goal is to foster a sense of belonging, she said. For graduate students, she expanded L&Ss summer fellowship program to provide additional funding so graduate students could focus on their research during the summer. Atekwana was previously dean of the College of Earth, Ocean and Environment and a geophysicist at University of Delaware.
What are your major priorities now?
No. 1 is enhancing the success of our students across all demographics. I believe that every student who walks through our doors must exit with a degree and with adaptable and flexible skills needed for careers of the future and of their choosing. And I am committed to partnering with our faculty and alumni to make this happen. For our undergraduates, its expanding beyond the classroom experiences including undergraduate research, global engagement through study abroad, internships, closing opportunity gaps, career preparedness and mentoring.
No. 2 is promoting and fostering an equitable workplace and a culture of inclusive excellence in the college where our faculty and staff feel safe, valued and appreciated. Diversity and inclusion enhance innovation and productivity, and so I am committed to advancing excellence in faculty diversity by recruiting and retaining a more diverse professorate and faculty that bring multicultural perspectives to teaching and research. Our student body is very diverse. This is the most diverse college that I have ever worked in. Ideally, our faculty demographics ought to reflect the changing demographics of our students. Aligning faculty demographics with students will take deliberate and intentional action. This requires working collaboratively with the departments that hire and recruit and implementing best recruitment practices.
Last but not least, L&S has a history as three separate colleges brought back together. We need a new roadmap for the college. My highest priority as we move into 2023 is to work with faculty and all the relevant stakeholders to develop a new strategic plan for the college. I have visited most of our departments to learn of their strengths, challenges and opportunities. I believe we have excellent departments with a lot of potential, and we need to unleash that potential.
Helping [students] succeed is the best feeling I can get
from what I do.
What are the challenges and opportunities facing your work now?
Right now, some of the challenges are resources. We have some funds to support the expansion of the graduate student summer fellowships. But this needs to be sustained; I dont want it to go away after two or three years. We are looking for creative ways to generate additional revenue to support this program through development activities.
Another challenge is the disruptions we are facing in the post-pandemic world and the great resignation. We have several positions that are not filled right now. Plus, there is the challenge of the emotional toll and burden of what has happened. We need new strategies to support our faculty, staff and students in this post-pandemic world.
And then there are lots of opportunities to expand our research. We can promote convergence research that leverages L&S diversity in frontier areas to address societys grand challenges. We have them all in L&S. This is the great advantage of this college.
What makes you feel fulfilled?
Knowing that I am making a difference. When a students life has been transformed by their experiences here or when, by removing barriers, our faculty and staff achieve their goals and unleash their potential helping them succeed. That to me, is the best feeling I can get from what I do.
Richard Corsi, M.S. 85, Ph.D. 89
College of Engineering
Dean Richard Corsi is focused on creating a strategic visio