Mary Delany has moved up from associate dean to executive associate dean in the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, for a five-year term that began July 1.

Delany, a professor and former chair of animal science, became an associate dean in 2009 and served as interim dean for almost a year and a half, until January 2014 when Helene Dillard assumed the top post in CA&ES.

Dillard described Delany as “exceptionally well qualified” to be the executive associate dean, noting the success she has had as a department chair, associate dean and interim dean. She performed “admirably” as interim dean, “bringing stability internally to the faculty, staff and students, and externally to our stakeholders,” Dillard said.

“I have worked closely with Mary since I began my tenure as dean, and I value the dedication and commitment she has to our college.”

Delany, an avian geneticist, holds the John and Joan Fiddyment Endowed Chair in Agriculture. She joined UC Davis in 1995 with a joint appointment in the departments of Avian Sciences and Animal Science (the departments merged in 1997); she served as the animal science chair from 2005 to 2009.

She has successfully led strategic planning efforts at both the departmental and college levels, and is known as a strategic and thoughtful leader who listens to all perspectives, Dillard said. 

Delany’s responsibilities as the executive associate dean include:

• Work with the associate deans in regard to organization, structure and function of college programs and initiatives.
• Provide oversight, coordination and stewardship of college resources, facilities and programs.
• Represent the college in land use, and space and capital expenditures projects; and serve on campus planning groups.

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Vice Provost Carolyn de la Peña of Undergraduate Education announced two appointments, each the culmination of an internal search:

• Psychology professor Matt Traxler, interim associate vice provost, a one-year, 50 percent appointment, effective Aug. 1. A search will be conducted during the new academic year to fill the post permanently, de la Peña said.

The vice provost said Traxler has a strong history of leadership in undergraduate education at UC Davis. He served as the chair of the psychology department’s undergraduate education committee for six years, and has served on the Academic Senate’s Undergraduate Council for five years, including two years as chair. “In that capacity, he has made significant improvements in the program review process in collaboration with administration and colleagues in the senate,” de la Peña said.

Traxler has conducted research to identify negative consequences of nonenforcement of prerequisites, and, according to de la Peña, has helped to foster a positive culture of assessment at UC Davis. He was a member of the steering committee for the university's recent accreditation review by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges.

As associate vice provost, Traxler will collaborate with campus leadership in several areas to support student success, for example, by working to ensure the program review process leads to concrete improvements to the student experience; and by participating in projects to renovate classrooms and conceptualize 21st-century learning environments.

He will directly supervise staff in UE’s Center for Leadership Learning and the Washington Program, and provide support for Undergraduate Education’s accreditation efforts.

“Matt will make significant contributions to our efforts to ensure that all UC Davis undergraduates receive the highest quality educational experience,” de la Peña said.

Traxler, who joined the faculty of the Department of Psychology and Center for Mind and Brain since 2002, researches the processes that underlie language comprehension.

• Helen Schurke Frasier is moving from the Office of Graduate Education to the Office of Undergraduate Education, to serve as assistant vice provost effective Aug. 11.

De la Peña said Frasier has broad experience in analyzing educational issues, conceptualizing programs and processes, and partnering with the Academic Senate, as well as expertise in persistence and retention issues.

As assistant vice provost, Frasier will serve as the chief administrative officer for Undergraduate Education, and will have responsibility for core staff supervision, strategic planning and the implementation of new programs. Her oversight duties will take in Academic Advising, English as a Second Language and Entry Level Writing, and she will collaborate with unit directors in setting goals, managing budgets and achieving academic improvements. 

In addition, she will work with other campus units, including Budget and Institutional Analysis and the University Registrar, to ensure that enrollment growth is managed effectively, and will support Undergraduate Education’s strategic planning, and time-to-degree and accreditation efforts.  

She has worked in the office of the vice provost of Graduate Education and the dean of Graduate Studies since 2007, and has served as the director of analysis and policy since 2009. In that position, according to de la Peña, Frasier has contributed greatly to graduate student success through policy analysis and program development, designing and implementing the Mentoring at Critical Transitions program and working extensively on the graduate academic program review process.

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Marcie Kirk Holland has been appointed to lead the Internship and Career Center where she has worked for 22 years. When the appointment takes effect July 29, she will be the center’s first permanent, full-time, staff-level director. 

The center is losing its faculty director, Subhash Risbud, who will become co-chair of the Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science. He joined the Internship and Career Center in 2005, when it was part of Academic Affairs; now Student Affairs has responsibility for the center, thus the need for a staff-level director instead of a faculty director.

Lora Jo Bossio, associate vice chancellor of Student Affairs, announced Kirk Holland’s appointment, noting that she has more than 25 years of career counseling experience and is nationally recognized as a leader in developing strategies and best practices in career development.

Kirk Holland started at the ICC in 1992 as an internship coordinator (a position now known as a career service specialist). Under a reorganization in 2007, she joined the management team as project manager, a position subsequently retitled assistant director.

She has served as an adjunct faculty member at California State University, Sacramento, and Chapman University, where she designed and taught master’s-level career development courses to graduate students in the masters in counseling and masters in education programs.

Bossio noted Kirk Holland’s “keen eye for spotting trends and leveraging opportunities to prepare our students for the global economy,” for example, in helping to develop the Oaxaca (Mexico) Quarter Abroad program, and as a co-founder of Global and Local Opportunities Begin with Education, or GLOBE.

“Marcie has a history of program development and innovation along with experienced leadership in cross-campus collaboration,” Bossio said.

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