May 26, 2009
To: The Campus Community
After 32 years of service to the UC Santa Barbara Community, Paula Rudolph has announced her retirement this year.
Paula graduated from the University of Michigan and began her UCSB career in Fall 1977 as a Graduate Intern in the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs. In February 1978 she moved into a career position as a Liberal Arts Career Advisor in what was then called “The Placement Center” (now “Career Services”), and in July of that same year became the first full-time Executive Director of the Associated Students.
After completing her PhD in Counseling Psychology at UCSB in 1981, Paula assumed the role of Assistant Dean of the Graduate Division, where she oversaw operations, handled graduate student grievances, and created graduate student support networks for students who might otherwise feel marginalized due to their gender, ethnicity or sexual orientation. For the latter efforts she was awarded the Margaret Getman Service to Students Award in 1992. During her tenure she assisted in the preparation and review of proposals for the MA and PhD programs in Materials, Communication, Linguistics and Counseling Psychology; the MM and DMA in Music; the MS and PhD in Statistics and Applied Probability; the Joint PhD in Geography with San Diego State, and the Bren School of Environmental Science and Management.
In January 1992 Paula was appointed to serve as UCSB’s first Sexual Harassment and Title IX complaint resolution officer. During the past 18 years Paula has provided perspective and steadfast leadership with handling complaints of sexual or gender harassment and/or discrimination for our faculty, staff and students. In addition, she has led or participated in many sexual harassment education programs for various campus constituencies. Throughout all of her responsibilities associated with conflict and complaint resolution, Paula has attempted to be neutral, fair and respectful of all parties involved. As part of her Title IX responsibilities, Paula has advised many Intercollegiate Athletics Policy or general review committees and served as an ongoing advisor to the Chancellor’s Advisory Committee on the Status of Women.
Paula was also a member for 7 years of the Board of Directors of the Santa Barbara Athletic Roundtable and in 2001 received the Louise Lowry Davis Award for her character and leadership. Along with the Women’s Center, she co-founded the Distinguished Women in Sports Lecture Series in 1999, and in 2002 she was selected as the “Woman of the Year” for the 35th Legislative District for her efforts at promoting gender equity in athletics at UCSB and in our local community.
We will celebrate Paula’s career and retirement on Tuesday, June 9, 2009 at the Mosher Alumni House (Second floor) from 4:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m. All are invited.
Sincerely,
Gene Lucas
Executive Vice Chancellor