Rosina M. Becerra to Step Down as Vice Provost for Faculty Diversity and Development

Administrative Officers, Deans, Department Chairs, Directors, Faculty and Vice Chancellors
 

Dear Colleagues:

Rosina M. Becerra, vice provost for faculty diversity and development, has informed me that she wishes to step down as vice provost and return to the faculty at the end of this academic year.  At my request, she has graciously agreed to continue serving through the conclusion of the search for her successor.

Appointed in July 2002 as associate vice chancellor for faculty diversity and promoted to vice provost in 2007, Dr. Becerra has worked closely with the chancellor, executive vice chancellor/provost and campus leadership to assign more visibility and centrality to faculty diversity issues.  Under Rosina’s leadership, the Office for Faculty Diversity has expanded to become the Office for Faculty Diversity & Development.  It is responsible for the campus Academic Affirmative Action Plan and compliance with federal regulations for affirmative action and equal opportunity, as well as building and supporting a culture of equity and inclusion through programs for faculty members and department chairs.  The office focuses on programs to enhance diversity in the recruitment and retention of faculty; oversees several campuswide programs to provide awards and funding to support individual faculty development; publishes monographs and handbooks and manages two websites to support diversity and development efforts; and hosts more than a dozen events each year, including faculty search committee briefings, department chair forums, academic personnel workshops for assistant professors, and developmental events for assistant professors and new faculty members.

In addition, Vice Provost Becerra has served in many diversity leadership positions on a UC or statewide level, including chairing the UC President’s Task Force on Faculty Diversity (2005-06); serving as co-PI for the multi-campus NSF PAID partnership for faculty equity and diversity (2006 – 09); and co-founding the California Universities Consortium in 2005 to address diversity in universities statewide.  Most recently, Vice Provost Becerra has received a New Scholars Award from the Elsevier Foundation (co-PI, Associate Dean M. Belinda Tucker), which will help fund two family-friendly programs for women academics in science, health and technology.

In addition to her administrative responsibilities, Rosina is a professor of social welfare and Chicana/o studies at the School of Public Affairs.  Her research focuses on policy issues related to children and families.  Since coming to UCLA in 1975, Becerra has also served as dean of the former School of Social Welfare, chair of the Department of Social Welfare, director of the CII in Chicana/o Studies, director of the Center for Child and Family Policy Research and acting director of the Institute for Industrial Relations.  She has also served as a member of many Academic Senate committees, including the Council on Research, Committee on Educational Policy and the Council of Academic Personnel.  In her current role, she co-chairs the Chancellor’s Advisory Group on Diversity and serves as a member of the Chancellor’s Executive Committee, the Council of Deans and the Advisory Board of UCLA Early Care & Education.

When she steps down as vice provost, Rosina will have served as UCLA’s first faculty diversity officer for eight years.  In this role, she has provided advice and counsel to many new chairs, deans, executive vice chancellors/provosts and three chancellors.  We are deeply grateful for her many years of dedicated service in this role, and we look forward to her continued contributions to UCLA as she returns to the faculty and continues her scholarly work in the years ahead.

In the coming weeks, I will form a search committee to identify candidates for vice provost and will keep you informed as we initiate the search.

Sincerely,

Scott L. Waugh
Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost