The search committee is made up of 11 student, faculty and staff representatives, including ASUC President DeeJay Pepito, and is chaired by Anne De Luca, associate vice chancellor for admissions and enrollment.

The student forum drew about 20 students who voiced the importance of having a dean of students who is accessible and transparent, according to Austin Pritzkat, Pepito’s chief of staff.

Students said they wanted a dean who would actively participate with students and implement an open-door policy by holding informal meetings with students.

After a November 2011 Occupy Cal protest, Poullard agreed with former UC Berkeley chancellor Robert Birgeneau that students linking arms to prevent police from entering an encampment was not “nonviolent civil disobedience.” In response, students at the meeting expressed concerns that the new dean must understand the rationale behind student protest.

Graduate Assembly President Max Gee, who also sits on the committee, said that he and Pepito will attend all search committee meetings to “make sure the priorities of the undergraduate students are met.”

“The search has just begun, and students will have a voice along every step of the way,” Gee said.

Other search committee members were also present at the student forum. David Robinson, associate campus counsel and a member of the committee, said the feedback about what the students at the forum said they wanted and what was discussed at the committee meetings were very similar.

“The dean of students needs to be someone who has communication skills and an ability to really listen to what the student priorities are,” Robinson said. “The dean needs to engage with students and student leadership as partners.”

According to De Luca, the committee discussed looking for someone who understands the unique dynamics of a public institution like UC Berkeley and who is committed to the type of diversity found in the campus community.

Currently, David Surratt is serving as the interim dean of students and will continue to do so until a replacement is found.

The committee, which has only had one meeting so far on Sept. 25, is in the early stages of finding that replacement. De Luca said there is no deadline and hopes to have finalists on campus to meet with different stakeholder groups by early February.

“Our next step is to review the draft of the position profile, and once it is approved, to begin to advertise the position,” De Luca said. “The committee will then focus on sharing the news of the position and encouraging applications from student affairs professionals nationwide.”

Jane Nho covers student government. Contact her at jnho@dailycal.org.

Correction(s):
A previous version of this article incorrectly identified Anne DeLuca as associate vice chancellor for admissions and enrollment and acting director of undergraduate admissions. In fact, DeLuca is only the associate vice chancellor for admissions and enrollment.

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After eight years as UC Berkeley’s dean of students, Jonathan Poullard will step down Sept. 13.

Poullard has expressed a desire to relocate to the East Coast to be closer to his family, said Felicia Lee, chief of staff for Harry Le Grande, vice chancellor for student affairs. Poullard will be ending his career at UC Berkeley as a voice for the student body.

“It was not a surprise regarding the reason but it is always a jolt when any staff member leaves our Cal community,” Lee said in an email.

Anne De Luca, associate vice chancellor for admissions and enrollment and acting director of undergraduate admissions, will lead a search committee tasked with finding a replacement for Poullard. Details about the committee’s members have yet to be released, but it will include representatives of faculty and staff members as well as student groups.

According to Austin Pritzkat, ASUC President DeeJay Pepito’s chief of staff, student representation on the search committee will include Pepito and Graduate Assembly President Max Gee. Pepito hopes to have students participate in the selection process, potentially through open forums, Pritzkat said.

As dean of students, Poullard oversaw many student-related groups and activities as well as emergency and crisis situations affecting students. The Occupy Cal movement was one of the more controversial events during Poullard’s tenure.

After the November 2011 protest in which police used batons against demonstrators trying to set up an encampment on Sproul Plaza, Poullard agreed with Chancellor Robert Birgeneau’s statement that linking arms to prevent police from approaching the encampment was not “nonviolent civil disobedience,” according to Connor Landgraf, ASUC president during the 2012-13 academic year.

Landgraf acknowledged that student leaders and Poullard did not “always see eye to eye” on the campus response to protests.

“However, he was always very positive and was very vocal when it came to protecting students’ rights,” Landgraf said.

Other student leaders agreed that Poullard may be remembered for being a strong advocate for students.

“When a crisis erupted, whether it was the Berkeley College Republicans’ bake sale or the Israel divestment bill that rocked campus last spring, Dean Poullard never shied from the difficult issues,” said Joey Freeman, ASUC external affairs vice president for 2011-12. “He was a bridge-builder who facilitated meetings between students on both sides of any given issue.”

One of the programs that Poullard began on campus was the Student Liaison for Dean of Students, a mentoring program for undergraduate students wishing to explore the field of student affairs.

“It allows students to work with him directly for a year,” said Elizabeth Rodriguez, executive assistant to the dean of students. “Many of the students who participate in the program go on to do a master’s program.”

Billy Curtis, former assistant dean of students and current executive director of the campus’s Multicultural, Sexuality and Gender Centers, participated in the search committee that hired Poullard in 2006 and continued to work with him until 2009.

“It’s such a loss to the campus,” Curtis said of Poullard’s departure. “He brought a sense of professionalism to the student affairs department. He was instrumental in taking the office of student life to the level that it is now.”

Jose Hernandez covers campus life. Contact him at jhernandez@dailycal.org.

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Michael Drummond/Staff

More than 50 protesters gathered at Bancroft Way and Telegraph Avenue Wednesday afternoon before marching to the Tang Center to protest changes to UC Student Health Insurance Plan coverage.

The protesters requested that UC administrators meet numerous conditions, including no increases in SHIP fees, lifting coverage and prescription drug caps on SHIP plans, improvements in dependent care and a new contract that prevents layoffs for health care workers.

“We’re protesting the fact that UC SHIP is exploiting a loophole in Obamacare that makes it so we still have caps on our services,” said Austin Pritzkat, a UC Berkeley sophomore and organizer for CalSERVE.

The protesters came from a variety of student groups and unions, including CalSERVE; UAW Local 2865, which represents student-workers; and AFSCME 3299, which represents health care and service workers.

In response to their efforts, Chancellor Robert Birgeneau agreed to meet with a group of students sometime during the next two weeks to discuss the conditions involved in the protest, said campus spokesperson Janet Gilmore in an email.

After protesting at Bancroft and Telegraph for about half an hour, the protesters marched down Bancroft, blocking traffic while holding signs and chanting, “Health care should be free, no caps, no fees.”

The protest comes less than three weeks after it was revealed that UC SHIP is projected to have a systemwide $57 million deficit and that administrators have recommended increasing premiums by an average of 25 percent systemwide, including a 19.8 percent increase for UC Berkeley students.

“We are protesting to demand that the university not increase our health care costs,” said graduate student Munira Lokhandwala. “We think they’re already too high. We don’t want to pay for the mismanagement of funds.”

Following their march down Bancroft, the protesters reached the Tang Center, where eight went inside for a sit-in in the lobby while about 50 others continued their protest in the courtyard.

“It’s a backdoor fee hike, but it’s still a fee hike,” said UC Berkeley graduate student Rachel Lesser to the crowd gathered outside. “We say no to fee hikes.”

The sit-in at the Tang Center continued for more than two hours as the protesters spoke with Ron Coley, associate vice chancellor of business and administrative services, and Dean of Students Jonathan Poullard. The students left the Tang Center after the chancellor agreed to meet with them.

“They were very open to working with us, and they were very clear that their interests are very well-aligned with ours,” said UC Berkeley student Maggie Hardy.

Gilmore said the Tang Center was able to remain open to patients throughout the day.

“We are sympathetic to the students’ position and understand that they were seeking to bring attention to their cause,” Gilmore said in an email.

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Mitchell Handler covers academics and administration. Contact him at mhandler@dailycal.org and follow him on Twitter @mitchellhandler.

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