Dear Members of the Campus Community,

I write to share with you that, following nearly 20 years of exceptional service, Chief of Staff and Special Assistant for Strategic Initiatives and former Vice President for Communications Gayle McIntosh has retired effective January 6, 2023.  She will be greatly missed at Puget Sound as a supportive and thoughtful colleague with strategic acumen, an outstanding writer, and a passionate champion of the university.  As Gayle ends her service to Puget Sound, she is away from campus, but we hope to celebrate and thank Gayle in true Logger fashion in the near future.

We will continue to advance the important work of the university, including advancing our Leadership for a Changing World strategic plan and coordinating the associated implementation of the strategies of A Sound Future.  Effective immediately, Vice President and General Counsel and Secretary of the Board of Trustees Joanna Carey Cleveland will now serve as Chief of Staff in addition to her regular responsibilities.

As part of her new portfolio, Joanna will manage the work of the Office of the President in partnership with the Director of the Office of the President and she may represent me and serve as a liaison or spokesperson for me with all areas of the university as needed.  She also will focus on working with the staff in the Office of the President and others as appropriate to ensure the university’s planning efforts and other strategic management initiatives are timely communicated, coordinated, and implemented.  And she will consult and collaborate with members of the Cabinet, faculty, staff, and student leaders to align priorities with institutional goals.

To support Joanna in her new and expanded role, we have made the following changes to redistribute responsibilities within the Office of the President and the Division of General Counsel and Risk Management:

  • Stacy Kelly, Chief Risk Management Officer, will now serve as an Assistant General Counsel along with her regular responsibilities.  While Stacy has particular strengths in risk management and insurance and transactional matters, she will serve in a generalist role for us to triage and assist Joanna in responding to the range of legal matters that come before the university. 
  • Jessica Dedrick, Paralegal and Assistant Secretary to the Board of Trustees, will now serve as the Strategic Initiatives Coordinator along with her regular responsibilities.  In this role, Jessica will devote substantially more of her time to legal research and support, governance engagement with the board of trustees and campus partners, and will also support strategic initiatives and provide campus-wide policy leadership.
  • Stefana Welker, Administrative and Events Coordinator in the Office of the President, will now also serve as the Executive Assistant for Joanna, including responsibility for scheduling and managing Joanna’s calendar, and will assist as needed with broader administrative support and assistance for the Division of General Counsel and Risk Management.  Please contact Stefana at 253.879.3201 or swelker@pugetsound.edu for any scheduling needs for Joanna going forward.

In our current context, I am very appreciative that we have such a strong team in place who are willing and able to step into these roles supporting the university in a budget-positive manner.  I am looking forward to working with them and I know they will be important and supportive partners with all of you as well. 

Sincerely,
Isiaah Crawford, Ph.D. | President