Undergraduate Studies Leader to Leave for KS Administration Post

Faculty, staff, and students:

I have both sad news and good news to share. Vice Provost for Undergraduate Studies DeAngela Burns-Wallace has been offered and accepted the opportunity to serve the State of Kansas as secretary of administration in Gov. Laura Kelly’s cabinet. DeAngela will begin her new role in Topeka with the start of the fiscal year, July 1.

While we will miss DeAngela’s leadership and energy, she and her talented team in Undergraduate Studies have advanced several priorities designed to serve KU students very well. She did an exceptional job of identifying and connecting KU’s people and resources to elevate the work taking place every day across campus.

Given the timing and the strength of the Undergraduate Studies team, DeAngela and I believe that Director of Strategic Initiatives Susan Klusmeier will be able to step in and effectively lead as interim. Susan oversees the integration and management of the retention technology, Jayhawk GPS, which provides an online connection between students and their academic support network of faculty, advisors, and other support staff. She provides guidance and support to KU’s undergraduate academic advising community and is co-liaison for the University Innovation Alliance. She has a doctorate in education from the University of Pennsylvania and her research focuses on the professionalization of academic advising and the role policy plays in advisor retention. She also is a lecturer in the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies for the School of Education.

I have great confidence in Susan and I’m grateful that DeAngela has built and positioned a strong team that will help KU welcome a new class of incoming students in the weeks ahead and will continue to usher them through their college experience.

As more students, faculty, and staff return for the fall semester, we will move quickly with a formal search.

Carl

Carl Lejuez
Interim Provost & Executive Vice Chancellor