SUBJECT:

Dean of the Graduate Division, Kim Barrett

Following a decade of exceptional service as Dean of the Graduate Division, Dr. Kim Barrett has elected to conclude her tenure as Dean effective December 31, 2016. She will return to research and teaching as a Distinguished Professor of Medicine in the Division of Gastroenterology following a period of sabbatical leave in the winter and spring quarters, 2017.

As Graduate Dean, Dr. Barrett has overseen graduate admissions, academic progress, financial support, student affairs, diversity activities related to graduate education, graduate student academic employee collective bargaining, and the granting of higher degrees. She is a member of the Graduate Council of the Academic Senate, responsible for administering policies, procedures, requirements, and standards for graduate study, and for coordinating the reviews of individual graduate programs. In her 10-year tenure, she has overseen a 24% increase in the size of our graduate population in state-funded programs. During the same period, the number of students in self-supported programs has more than doubled. Dean Barrett has implemented numerous operational efficiencies and on-line initiatives for the administration of graduate education, ensuring efficient service for the growing number of students and programs.

In collaboration with the Graduate Council, Dean Barrett has supervised periodic reviews of all UC San Diego graduate programs, and has worked to enhance program quality. She also partnered with the Council to overhaul the block grant allocation model to serve the unique needs of different disciplines.

Dean Barrett has been a strong advocate for graduate education issues at the regional and national level. She co-founded the annual systemwide Graduate Research Day, leading a delegation of students from each UC campus to Sacramento to showcase the contributions of graduate research to the innovation ecosystem. She secured grant funding from the Council of Graduate Schools to examine overall Ph.D. completion rates and the drivers of minority student attrition and completion, and has spoken at several national meetings on critical topics in graduate education. She has also been an essential partner in campus efforts to secure new philanthropic resources for graduate support.

She has demonstrated a strong commitment to equity, diversity and inclusion among our graduate population, implementing programs that have enhanced the recruitment and retention of under-represented minority students. Dean Barrett initiated the first West coast chapter of the Bouchet Honor Society, developed a fellowship program for members of federally recognized tribes, championed relationships with minority-serving institutions to strengthen pipelines, and serves as principal investigator for our Alfred P. Sloan Foundation-funded University Center for Exemplary Mentoring. During her tenure, under-represented minorities, as a fraction of all domestic students in our graduate programs, have risen by more than 55%.

Dean Barrett has consistently worked to enhance graduate student life at UC San Diego, partnering with the Graduate Student Association to promote community and enhance graduate student satisfaction. She has revised housing policies to build community when students first arrive on campus, and has advocated for construction of an ambitious program of new graduate housing that has potential to place UC San Diego first among all UC campuses for provision of this critical recruitment resource. She has been a vocal advocate for preparing our graduate students for success in the full range of post-graduate career opportunities available to them. To this end, she spearheaded GrAdvantage, a comprehensive suite of professional development activities that includes innovative communications workshops, a Certificate in Leadership and Teamwork, and career exploration events that additionally engage alumni. She also founded the popular GradSLAM competition that has seen hundreds of students compete to effectively and succinctly describe their work and its impact to broad audiences.

Please join us in thanking Dean Kim Barrett for her meaningful and lasting contributions to the Graduate Division and UC San Diego. A search for her successor will be conducted in the fall.

Pradeep K. Khosla Chancellor Suresh Subramani Executive Vice Chancellor