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Since assuming the presidency of California State University, Stanislaus (CSU Stanislaus) in July, Dr. Britt Rios-Ellis has immersed herself in Warrior culture, becoming acquainted with the local communities of California’s Central Valley. This leadership position enables her to further her commitment to inclusive excellence.
CSU Stanislaus is an Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI). Seventy-one percent of its students are first-generation college students and more than half are Pell eligible. “The ability to shape a campus culture of excellence with comprehensive student support was always very appealing to me,” says Rios-Ellis, a bilingual and bicultural educational and community health leader. “The chance to work with the community to form a culture that exudes belonging and inclusion was irresistible.”
Rios-Ellis previously held leadership roles at two other California State University institutions, Long Beach and Monterey Bay. At the latter, she was the founding dean of the College of Health Sciences and Human Services. During her time there, she increased the diversity of tenure-track faculty and co-founded the Master of Science Physician Assistant Program, the first of its kind in the CSU system.
Dr. Richard Ogle, provost and vice president for academic affairs at CSU Stanislaus, says Rios-Ellis’ focus on community health in Latinx populations makes her an ideal fit for the university’s students and local community. “[In the Central Valley], we exist in a healthcare desert, so we are in critical need of expanding our healthcare and behavioral healthcare training opportunities,” Ogle says. “In her previous role as the founding dean of the College of Health Sciences and Human Services at CSU Monterey Bay, she was instrumental in supporting, facilitating and developing a number of new healthcare related programs.”
Operating in a post-pandemic world, Rios-Ellis acknowledges there are ongoing enrollment challenges. “We’re excited to have surpassed our 2% goal for new student enrollment this year,” she says. “Both our undergrad and graduate new student enrollment has grown, reflecting the Central Valley communities’ commitment to our mission. Together, we are ensuring an educated, well trained workforce dedicated to our mutual success.”
Rios-Ellis is sustaining the school’s commitment to serving student needs. Understanding that a substantial number of CSU Stanislaus students grapple with food, housing, and financial insecurity, she plans to continue to evolve policies that endeavor to stabilize basic needs while also creating a high-impact, inclusive environment in which students feel empowered. “For these reasons, we will be working with the families of our students — in both English y en español — to ensure that they not only understand what is needed to support a college student, but also how to help their children navigate expectations,” Rios-Ellis says. “As president, I look forward to engaging future English and Spanish-speaking Warrior families in navigating the college experience and ensuring, particularly for first-generation students, that their support system understands their student trajectory and can align their expectations and support with what the next four to six years will bring.”
Rios-Ellis’s research has included Latinx HIV/AIDS, nutrition, maternal/child health, chronic disease and mental health. Her background as a professor of health sciences and founding director of the CSU Long Beach Center for Latino Community Health, Evaluation and Leadership Training and the community-based Centro Salud es Cultura, will inform her work in those areas at CSU Stanislaus.Â
“As an ethnographer who has spent a great deal of my career focused on community health and education, part of my focus is to make even the quietest voices heard and to better understand and highlight the overwhelming potential of the community cultural capital our students and their families bring to campus,” says Rios-Ellis. “As an HSI we are making sure that my messages are coming out in Spanish and English and that context is not only translated but trans-created to address the cultural contexts of Latinx communities.”
Ensuring that CSU Stanislaus has a diverse faculty is a top priority, says Rios-Ellis, who says she wants to ensure that the search, recruitment, and onboarding processes meet the needs of the candidates. “This year, our university will embark on collectively establishing our strategic priorities through listening and working sessions, focus groups and other activities,” says Rios-Ellis. “This work will inform a new strategic plan to coalesce enrollment and retention, budge realignment and revenue diversification, and ensure our students have a college experience with high-impact practices grounded in community engagement.”