Pat Turner to Step Down as Dean and Vice Provost, Undergraduate Education and Senior Dean of the College

To: Administrative Officers, Deans, Department Chairs, Directors, Vice Chancellors and Vice Provosts, UCLA College Faculty and Staff

Dear Colleagues:

Professor Pat Turner has informed me of her intent to step down as dean and vice provost of the Division of Undergraduate Education and senior dean of the College on June 30, 2020. While I regret that we will be losing such an effective leader, I appreciate Pat’s desire to return to her research and teaching full time.

Since assuming the roles of dean and vice provost in 2013 and senior dean of the College in 2016, Pat has advanced campus priorities on several fronts. Under her direction, UCLA has continued to see a marked increase in four-year graduation rates. Working with her staff, she developed three- and four-year pathways to enable students to establish graduation goals commensurate with their academic priorities. She worked tirelessly with many campus colleagues on the development and approval of UCLA’s first diversity requirement. Additionally, in anticipation of UCLA’s Centennial Celebration, Pat led the development of a subset of Fiat Lux courses that focus on the history and culture of UCLA. Since 2016, there have been more than 100 of these Centennial Fiat Lux courses offered.

Pat also has had many successes in the Centennial Campaign for UCLA, where her focus has been on raising resources for students and programs. She spearheaded the development of the Arthur Ashe Legacy Fund, which simultaneously raises resources to support a generous undergraduate scholarship while generating revenue to underwrite several efforts, including a museum exhibition, archival project, and oral history project, all focused on preserving and promoting the many accomplishments of Arthur Ashe ’66.

From her very first days at UCLA in 2013 until the present, Pat has served the campus as its accreditation liaison officer, overseeing the preparation for and execution of the campus’ reaffirmation of accreditation review. During our most recent accreditation process, culminating in a campus site visit last fall, the external review team members were fulsome in their praise both for the work that undergirded the report and for Pat’s steady leadership.

Chancellor Block and I would like to thank Pat for her outstanding service as dean, vice provost, and senior dean and we wish her every success as she returns full time to her research and teaching in the departments of World Arts and Cultures/Dance in the School of the Arts and Architecture, and in African American Studies in the Division of Social Sciences.

I will keep you informed as we initiate the search for a successor to Pat.

Sincerely,

Emily A. Carter
Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost