A message from Vice Provost Michael Rios

I share this news with a heavy heart — the Office of Public Scholarship and Engagement (PSE) will shutter its doors on June 30. Amid difficult budget decisions, university leadership determined that PSE’s work is not essential to the university’s mission. Although I understand the challenges facing higher education, I respectfully disagree with this assessment.

Our priority is to ensure a smooth transition for PSE’s initiatives, projects and partnerships. Over the coming weeks, we will engage with faculty, staff, students and community partners to develop a transition plan and identify opportunities to sustain key aspects of our work in other areas of the university. We encourage open communication and welcome feedback as we navigate this change together.

As PSE comes to an end, I would like to reflect on its accomplishments over the past five years. Public Scholarship and Engagement has ignited innovation and catalyzed change across UC Davis and beyond. Within the University, we have supported more than 1,000 faculty, staff, students — and hundreds of their community partners — across all ten colleges and schools and both the Davis and Sacramento campuses. We have provided a platform for the university’s public scholars to share personal stories about their work and meaningful relationships with community partners.  Faculty fellowships, research grants, doctoral student training, civic internship placements, and community partner agreements are some of the notable examples. In addition, PSE has led institutional transformation initiatives to foster and support communities of practice, such as the Community Engagement Collaborative. We also nearly completed the Catalyzing Impact Initiative to build institutional capacity to document, measure, and assess the quality of the University’s community partnerships and public impact. 

Our reach has extended beyond UC Davis to strengthen community engagement across the University of California system. In 2020, PSE initiated a multi-year process leading to the formation of the UC Community Engagement Network (UCCEN), whose purpose is to work collaboratively to support mutually beneficial community engagement in research, teaching, and public service at individual UC campuses and systemwide. Today, UCCEN is governed by a council with representatives from all ten campuses and is working to demonstrate the University of California’s collective impact through community engagement. Since its formation, UCCEN has fostered dialogue that led to the adoption of faculty merit and promotion policies and guidelines to recognize public scholarship at four UC campuses. Through the UCCEN, we have also shaped community engagement guidelines for a $100 million climate action grant program funded by the state and administered through the UC Office of the President. More recently, we secured funding to create an online community engagement course that will be made available to 300,000 students across the UC system. 

PSE has also raised the visibility of UC Davis nationally and internationally through scholarly publications and leadership in professional organizations such as the Association of Public Land-grant Universities (APLU), the International Association for Research on Community Engagement and Service Learning, and the Academy of Community Engagement Scholarship. One exciting example is contributing to an APLU report that updates the Kellogg Commission on the Future of State and Land-Grant Universities 1999 report, “Returning to our Roots: The Engaged Institution.” The Kellogg Commission was formed to create awareness among public universities of the need for higher education reform. The new report, which is expected to be released at the end of 2025, will document progress made over the past 25 years and include a national call to action in response to the existential threats facing higher education and the waning public confidence in its societal impact. 

Most importantly, I would like to recognize the PSE team. To our graduate student fellows — Angelita, Hannah, Larissa, Meghan, and Sally — your curiosity, eagerness to learn, and intellect inspired us all. To our postdocs, Gabriela and Ingrid, your contributions to research and evidence-based programming ensured the success of our many programs and initiatives. To Amy, Becky, Karen, Krystal, Jessica, Moira, Stacey, and Tessa — we have grown together in so many ways. This has been the most personally fulfilling and meaningful experience in my career. I have witnessed something beautiful, which cannot be taken away. 

In closing, and on behalf of the entire PSE team, I want to express our deepest gratitude to the many partners and collaborators who have been part of this fulfilling journey. Our relationships with you have always grounded our work together and will carry the spirit of PSE forward, whatever form it may take in the future. Thank you. 

Finally, I will leave you with the words of Maya Angelou: “You may not control all the events that happen to you, but you can decide not to be reduced by them." In these uncertain times, and amid the challenges facing higher education, let’s hold true to our principles and continue to foster a culture of engagement at UC Davis.