Chancellor announces reorganization of the Office of External Relations

10.3.11

Subject: Reorganization of the Office of External Relations

Council of Deans and Vice Chancellors:

As I continue to evaluate the most effective organizational structure to achieve the goals outlined in our Vision of Excellence, as well as the needs associated with our recently announced “2020 Initiative,” I have decided to reorganize the Office of External Relations.

Effective October 10, 2011, the Office of External Relations--University Communications, Government & Community Relations, and Ceremonies & Special Events -- will no longer exist in its present form.  Its three units, all essential to achieving our campus’ long-term goals, will each continue to exist but will be reorganized as outlined below.

Before discussing the upcoming reorganization, I want to personally thank Vice Chancellor Beverly “Babs” Sandeen for her many years of leadership as the Vice Chancellor of University Relations and now External Relations.  Her commitment and service to our campus have allowed us to achieve new heights.  Thanks to her leadership and that of University Development staff, we are nearly three-quarters of the way toward achieving the goals of our first ever fundraising Campaign.  In addition, UC Davis continues to grow in recognition due to the ongoing efforts of the three units that comprise the current External Relations division.  I hope you will join me in thanking Babs for all she has done to advance the visibility and success of our institution.

Given the strength of Vice Chancellor Sandeen’s relationships with regional business and opinion leaders and to continue to build upon the robust community relations efforts already established under the leadership of Assistant Vice Chancellor Marjorie Dickinson and Community Relations Director Mabel Salon, I have asked Babs to serve in a new capacity as the campus’ Chief Regional and Community Engagement Officer.  Babs will continue to report directly to me in this role.  

Babs’ relationships with regional leaders will be critical as we continue to explore the possibility of future campus expansion as envisioned in our 2020 Initiative.  I appreciate Babs’ willingness to assume this new role and to assist the campus and me in extending our community relations activities, engaging our community partners and securing their support for our campus needs and initiatives.  Special thanks and recognition should be given to AVC Dickinson and Director Salon who helped develop and cultivate our community outreach program that serves as the foundation for this new office.   

In this capacity, Babs will continue to serve as a member of both the Chancellor’s Cabinet and the Council of Deans and Vice Chancellors.  She will be assisted in community outreach and engagement efforts with support from Bob Gore and Mabel Salon.  Bob, who is now in my immediate office, and Mabel, who is now a member of the Government & Community Relations unit, will both join the new Regional and Community Engagement Office which will operate under Babs’ leadership.

Government & Community Relations and Ceremonies & Special Events will both become units within the Office of the Chancellor, and will report to Associate Chancellor Engelbach.  These two units already provide regular and ongoing support to me and my office and I believe their integration into the Chancellor’s Office will result in streamlined operations and improve overall effectiveness and efficiency.  As it transitions to the Chancellor’s Office, Government & Community Relations will be renamed “Government Relations,” and its current community relations functions will be part of the newly-established Regional and Community Engagement Office. 

As many of you have shared with me, I too believe that it is absolutely critical for our campus to have effective, cutting-edge public relations, marketing, and communications if we are to achieve our shared vision of becoming one of the nation’s top five public research universities.  With this in mind, I have decided that, much like we have done in other key operational areas, it is time to conduct a comprehensive review of all of our campus communications and marketing efforts, both those centralized in University Communications as well as those decentralized in schools, colleges, departments and units across the campus.  The goal of this review is to improve the strength and effectiveness of our extensive marketing and communications activities and ensure that our campus’ core messages are being communicated by all units in a coordinated, systematic way.  This review will encompass communications efforts underway at both the Davis and Sacramento campuses. 

I have asked Cynthia Barbera to lead the University Communications Office and provide oversight of this comprehensive review of our campus’ communications activities.  She has graciously agreed to do so.  We are most excited to welcome her to the campus and to our campus’ leadership team.  Many of you may recall that Cynthia was a member of the CirclePoint team that developed some initial branding materials and recommendations for our campus.  Cynthia will be joining us beginning October 10 as the Executive Director of Strategic Communications and she will report directly to me.  Associate Vice Chancellor Benson and the University Communications unit will report to her effective October 10.  In her role as the Executive Director of Strategic Communications, Cynthia will be a member of the Council of Vice Chancellors, the Chancellor's Cabinet, and the Council of Deans and Vice Chancellors. 

For those who don’t yet know Cynthia, she is an international business executive with extensive experience in communications and marketing along with expertise in educational partnerships and development of educational information technology strategies and products.  She served as Vice President, Communications and Technology for Scholastic Inc., leading corporate communications, investor relations, public relations and public affairs.  Under her direction, Scholastic developed the first full-service K-12 Internet service for educators.  Cynthia also served as Vice President, Education for CableVision Systems in New York City and Vice President Public Relations and Public Affairs for WWOR-TV in New York City.  There, she produced Emmy-award winning television programs on critical issues including environment, health and education.  

Cynthia recently returned to the United States following five years in Shanghai, China where she was an executive search consultant focusing on foreign multi-national corporations.  She was a senior member of the core team for Special Olympics in Shanghai and also worked with Expo 2010 in Shanghai on various initiatives.  Cynthia holds bachelor’s degrees in Journalism and Social Science from UC Berkeley and an Executive M.B.A. degree from Columbia University.

I welcome any questions or comments you may have about these upcoming organizational changes.  I thank you in advance for your support and understanding as we embark upon these transitions.

Sincerely ,

Linda P.B. Katehi
Chancellor, UC Davis