Dear Colleagues,

I write to announce that Vice Provost for International Affairs, Kelechi Kalu, will step down from his administrative position and join the faculty full-time as of July 1, 2020. Dr. Kalu has served commendably as UCR’s founding vice provost for international affairs, joining our campus in 2015 after serving as Associate Provost for Global Strategies and International Affairs at The Ohio State University for three years. Under Kelechi’s leadership, UCR has further diversified and globalized our campus by welcoming an increasing number students from around the world and working to ensure their educational success on our campus. He also led numerous trips abroad to establish institutional-level agreements with partner campuses, facilitated visits by international delegations to UCR, and grew our Faculty-Led Education Abroad Programs. Kelechi accomplished all of this while also doing the hard work of building up our nascent International Affairs unit and serving with unwavering grace and humility in his leadership role. In July, Dr. Kalu will return to his research and teaching on International Politics, Globalization and African Political Economy as a professor in our Political Science department. 

I invite nominations and expressions of interest for the Interim Vice Provost for International Affairs, who will serve in this role until a permanent successor is appointed. More information about the position is attached and also can be found HERE. Qualified candidates are members of UCR’s academic senate who have achieved the rank of Full Professor or Full Professor of Teaching (also known as Senior LSOE) before July 1, 2020. Please forward nominations and expressions of interest to Senior Human Resources Analyst Tanya Adams (tanya.adams@ucr.edu) before March 13, 2020. 

Last, please join me in thanking Kelechi for his five years of service to UCR and welcoming him back to his scholarly pursuits.

Sincerely,

Tom