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CSU Monterey Bay sees the arrival of its new Provost and Dean of Health Sciences and Human Services.9/18/2014 With the fall semester of 2014 now underway, California State University Monterey Bay (CSUMB) sees the arrival of two new members of the academic body: Dr. Bonnie Irwin and Dr. Britt Rios-Ellis.
Irwin, a native Californian and former Dean of the College of Arts and Humanities and English Professor at Eastern Illinois University, assumes the role of Provost/Vice president; taking over the role from Dr. Julio Blanco who up until July 7 was filling in the position on an interim basis. Regarding the hiring process, CSUMB President Eduardo Ochoa said “we were pleased by the strong field of candidates that responded to the job announcement, but, even in that group, Dr. Irwin’s credentials set her apart. All of us here at CSUMB look forward to working with her as we continue to advance the academic excellence of our campus.” Irwin’s attraction to CSUMB was based on shared values upheld by this institution. She cited the university’s dedication to student access, the importance of diversity, its robust service learning program and undergraduate research as the leading reasons for being here. The new provost forecasts “a lot of meetings” held weekly with the college deans, faculty and student senates. In addition to this, she intends to explore ways programs offered at CSUMB can grow and expand as well as look into what other programs might be introduced. This comes at a time when student intake at CSUMB has reached its peak, seeing a significant increase in freshman and international students. Upon discussion of classroom sizes and student performance, Dr. Irwin aims to work towards finding ways to preserve the “value of being recognized as people and not just a number at CSUMB.” Alongside the provost, Dr. Britt Rios-Ellis takes on the role of Dean of the newly formed College of Health Sciences and Student Services. The former Professor of Health Sciences at California State University Long Beach (CSULB) and founding Director of the National Council of La Raza/CSULB Center for Latino Community Health, Evaluation and Leadership Training regards CSUMB as a place that has both the student’s and community’s best interests at heart. During her time at CSUMB, Rios-Ellis intends to utilize her prior experience of working with underserved and underrepresented populations to help develop creative approaches making sure that the needs of diverse students and members of the community are properly met. Rios-Ellis told the Otter Realm “I’m really hoping the college can be the leaders of the region in terms of community based participatory research.” As newly appointed Dean of the college, health is naturally a central component to her work. In many cases, the fast paced environment that students are exposed to while at college can often overtake the importance of health and wellbeing. “I think it’s very interesting and very compelling because a lot of the time people don’t pay attention to health until they need and they are sick” said Rio-Ellis. Although the given departments under the College of Health Sciences and Human Services offered at CSUMB such as Kinesiology and Community Health and Health Policy may focus on different topics of learning, it is Rios-Ellis’ intention to create new programs that use the public health model to weave all of these different disciplines together. Programs of this nature currently available at CSUMB include working with underprivileged children in Salinas as well as internships within community based organisations that allows students to complete service learning hours. With both women clearly set for busy schedules ahead of them, students can rest assured that they will be seeing a lot of Dr. Irwin and Dr Rios-Ellis on campus this this year. Dr. Irwin; http://academicaffairs.csumb.edu/bonnie-irwin?utm_source=card&utm_medium=tall&utm_campaign=card Dr. Rios-Ellis http://catalog.csumb.edu/university-organization/colleges-departments/professional-studies/dean-staff/
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