Associate Dean (Outreach) Ania Ulrich will explore ways to identify and address barriers to student and faculty success.
The Faculty of Engineering is sharpening its focus on people-from potential and current students to support staff and professors-with the creation of a new associate dean position.
Ania Ulrich, a professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering since 2008, began a five-year appointment as the Associate Dean (Outreach) effective July 1.
A major focus of Ulrich's duties is to ensure faculty members are empowered to reach their full potential.
"We value people by listening to them and by acting on what they say, and creating change," she said. "Work as an academic is a tough job."
Issues such as work-life balance and parental leave have enormous impacts on our lives, she said, and it's important that people can lead full, well-rounded lives.
"Is work-life balance achievable? How do we (academics) take parental leave when we're establishing what is basically a small business? What supports are needed to bring out the best in our people so they can get what they want out of their careers?"
By identifying concerns of faculty and staff members and addressing those issues, Ulrich says the faculty can do more to help its people succeed.
"We will measure and act on what people say and we will create change. As Dean Forbes says, the faculty has done a great job of building buildings-and now it's time for us to focus on our people, and help create the conditions that allow them to be wildly successful."
Ulrich's portfolio covers a broad spectrum. Overseeing outreach activities and student recruitment, she wants the faculty to strengthen its engagement with the public through activities that get kids excited about science and engineering.
"We want to create a more accurate portrayal of what engineers do in society, and inspire young people and reach out not only to their teachers and school counsellors but also to their parents," said Ulrich, who earned her undergraduate degree in chemical engineering at the U of A in 1999 and her PhD in chemical engineering and applied chemistry at the University of Toronto in 2004.
"Parents need to understand what engineers do, how we help people."
Ulrich wants the Faculty of Engineering to cast a wider net in the recruitment process, to appeal to young people who may not even realize the impact they can have as engineers. Using quantitative data, Ulrich hopes to identify and address barriers preventing under-represented groups from studying engineering at the U of A, and resolve issues that cause current students to struggle.
"We want to support students before they fall behind, before they get into trouble," she said.
Ulrich will be supported by Raymond Matthias, who is taking on a new role as a strategic advisor who will ensure that students accepted into the engineering program have the tools they need to flourish.
"He will be 100 per cent focused on making sure our students have an outstanding experience."