Dear Scripps College Community,
We are pleased to announce that Professor Gretchen Edwalds-Gilbert has been appointed Acting Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean of Faculty commencing April 16, 2021 and continuing until June 30, 2022, or until the new president is hired. We are grateful for Gretchen’s willingness to serve as acting dean, and we are confident that she will bring energy, curiosity, intelligence, and compassion to the position.
Gretchen was selected following a process in which several members of the community who will work with the acting dean participated in interviewing her as well as providing information about the role from numerous perspectives. The chairs of the Faculty Executive Committee (FEC) and Appointments, Promotions, and Tenure Committee (APT), Ken Gonzales-Day and Trang Tran respectively, interviewed, recommended, and approved of Gretchen’s appointment. We thank the various individuals who helped with this process.
We are fortunate that accomplished faculty members such as Gretchen are prepared to fill important leadership roles in periods of transition. As Acting Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean of Faculty, Gretchen will facilitate the work of the Scripps faculty and provide oversight for the development and implementation of all academic policies and programs beginning on April 16, 2021.
In her new role, Gretchen will:
- Represent faculty and academic matters to the Board of Trustees, the interim president, and other senior officers of the College;
- Advance strategic academic objectives, such as revising search processes to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion and further building the Interdisciplinary Humanities Clinics and Data and Computer Science initiatives;
- Oversee academic budgets;
- Advise the interim president and the Board of Trustees on faculty promotions;
- Serve as co-chair, with the vice president for business affairs/treasurer, of the College-wide budget committee;
- Collaborate with the associate dean of faculty and the associate dean for racial equity;
- Join the Academic Deans Committee and engage with intercollegiate academic programs;
- Work closely with colleagues at Pitzer, Claremont McKenna, and the W.M. Keck Science Department to monitor the success of the science program.
Gretchen has demonstrated her leadership abilities while serving as the associate dean of faculty for two 3-year terms, the faculty director of the Claremont Faculty Leadership Program, and on the Keck Executive Committee and as chair of the anti-racism task force in the W.M. Keck Science Department. She recently was a Fulbright Scholar at the University of Warsaw.
We are thrilled Professor Gretchen Edwalds-Gilbert will provide her leadership skills as a valued member of the senior leadership team and an officer of the College. Please join us in congratulating her and wishing her well.
Sincerely,
Lara Tiedens & Amy Marcus-Newhall