Fond Farewell for UCD Engagement Office
Dozens of faculty, staff and students shared memories, tears, hugs, and laughter as they gathered on the afternoon of May 20 to bid farewell to the UC Davis Office of Public Scholarship and Engagement.
Launched in 2019, Public Scholarship and Engagement (PSE) was part of a faculty-led effort to strengthen the university’s public impact, support community engaged research and teaching and foster more equitable, collaborative relationships with off-campus partners. Its closure, announced earlier this spring, is part of broader campus cuts intended to address an expected budget deficit.
Over six years, PSE supported more than 1,000 faculty, staff, and students and partnered with hundreds of community groups across California. The office helped launch faculty research through the Public Impact Research Initiative, which awarded nearly $430,000 to support partnerships with non-university organizations. It also built infrastructure to help faculty and community partners connect, including a publicly accessible engagement database and matching services like Community Campus Connect.
“Together, we’ve made an impact at UC Davis, taken on leadership roles across the UC system, and contributed to a growing national movement… one that views community engagement as vital to the future of the public university,” said Michael Rios, vice provost for public engagement.
In collaboration with other units, PSE also helped shape the university’s long-term approach to public engagement. In 2023, it co-hosted two major summits to develop shared principles for community engaged research and teaching. Additionally, PSE championed the needs of faculty and students, whose engagement work often lies in spaces underrecognized by traditional academic structures.
“PSE is one of the few offices that understands collaboration and relationship building, and how to do it right,” said Khoban Kochai, director of Anchor Institution and Culture/Climate Initiatives at UC Davis Health.
The closure represents a significant shift for UC Davis, which had positioned PSE as a national leader in engaged scholarship. In her message to campus, Provost Mary Croughan cited declining state support and federal policy shifts as key reasons behind the decision to wind down PSE and other programs, including STEM Strategies, on June 30.
Despite the closure, PSE’s legacy will live on through the culture it nurtured on campus, supporters said. “The exponential growth in the understanding of engaged scholarship on campus is not to be underestimated,” Patsy Owens, professor and associate dean in the Department of Human Ecology, told the crowd on Tuesday. “Don’t forget — you do have a community — and focus on what can be done going forward.”
For more information about the Office of Public Scholarship and Engagement and its programs, download its five-year impact report.