With Walter Robinson’s impending retirement as associate vice chancellor of Enrollment Management, Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor Ralph J. Hexter has initiated a recruitment advisory committee and appointed an interim replacement: Steve Weisler, chief data officer and director of institutional analysis in Budget and Institutional Analysis.

Hexter said Elizabeth Spiller, dean of the College of Letters and Science, will lead a national search for a new leader of Enrollment Management. The committee will receive its official charge at the beginning of the new academic year.

The head of Enrollment Management oversees Undergraduate Admissions, Office of the University Registrar, Financial Aid and Scholarships, and Enrollment Management Analytics.

Robinson joined UC Davis in the fall of 2011, coming here from UC Berkeley where he headed undergraduate recruitment and enrollment efforts for six years. Before that he served as associate director of admissions at the University of Florida at Gainesville.

“Walter has enjoyed a distinguished career in public higher education dedicated to serving students and working tirelessly on behalf of their success,” Hexter wrote in an Aug. 27 memo to Enrollment Management. “While I will miss his passion, intellect and dedication to the public service mission of UC Davis, I also wish him all the best in his well-earned retirement.”

Weisler, who joined UC Davis in April 2016, will step into the position upon Robinson’s retirement at the end of September. Weisler, the provost said, “brings deep experience in enrollment management issues stemming from both his current role as well as previous positions as provost of Dominican University (San Rafael), and the dean of Enrollment and Assessment at Hampshire College (Amherst, Massachusetts).”

New chief officers in central finance and HR

Kelly Ratliff, vice chancellor of Finance, Operations and Administration, announced two appointments:

• Lisa Frace (rhymes with “race”), chief finance and budget officer, effective Sept. 5. “Lisa was selected from a well-qualified pool of financial professionals, and we look forward to her contributions at UC Davis,” Ratliff said.

As the leader of the Finance and Resource Management team, Frace will oversee Budget and Institutional Analysis, Accounting and Financial Services, Supply Chain Management, Real Estate Services and the Preferred Partnership Program. Ratliff held this position prior to her appointment as vice chancellor.

Frace has more than 25 years of experience in finance, treasury, strategic planning and budget management experience, most recently serving as chief budget officer and associate vice president of Budget and Planning at Arizona State University. Last year the National Association of College and University Business Officers, or NACUBO, named her a “Rising Star” in the field.

• Christine Lovely, chief human resources officer, serving UC Davis and UC Davis Health, effective Oct. 15 when Brenda Rebman steps down.

After looking all over the country for a replacement, Ratliff said, UC Davis discovered in Lovely a candidate who has deep roots in the region — most recently serving as vice president of Human Resources for California State University, Sacramento.

Rebman will stay on to support a smooth transition for several months, Ratliff said. “We’ve seen a lot of positive changes in the Human Resources organization over the last year and I’m confident we’ll see even more progress in the coming year as we update legacy practices, deploy advanced technologies and innovate our service delivery across the university,” she said.

Ratliff described Lovely as “a talented higher education executive who brings a proven record of delivering human resource services and leading organizations through change initiatives.”

“Her leadership style and professional experience is exactly what we need as we enhance HR services and implement UCPath at UC Davis,” Ratliff said.

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