May 2022

After 5 years as Australia and New Zealand resident director, Francesca Collins is leaving her position at UCEAP to take on the assistant dean role at the Australian College of Applied Professions in Melbourne, Australia. In her time at UCEAP, Francesca has revamped predeparture and on-site orientation programs, uncovered internship-for-credit opportunities down under, facilitated two 10-year reviews, given countless presentations, and helped many a participant with issues related to academics, housing, and other needs.

Professor Peter Graham has accepted the position of associate dean with UCEAP. For the last several years, Peter has been teaching in Yonsei’s International Summer School. He serves as a professor in the Department of Philosophy and the program in Linguistics at UC Riverside. He has held significant administrative positions at UCR, first as associate dean of Student Academic Affairs for the College of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences (CHASS), and then as associate dean for Arts and Humanities. A world-renowned philosopher, Peter has held fellowships and visiting appointments in Scotland, England, Germany, Canada, and South Korea. He started his distinguished academic career as an undergraduate at UC Los Angeles, earned his master’s degree at the University of Arizona, and received his doctorate from Stanford University.

Professor Rachel Jean-Baptiste will join UCEAP as associate dean. She most recently was an associate professor of History and faculty director of Institute for Diversity, Equity, and Advancement at UC Davis. Her research focuses on the complex multiracial history and present realities of Francophone West and Equatorial Africa and has taken her to Gabon and Senegal. Rachel also served as the UCEAP faculty director for France and Switzerland from 2017-20. Her undergraduate degree was awarded by Bryn Mawr College and both of her advanced degrees are from Stanford University.

Professor Juana Maria Rodriguez will join UCEAP as the faculty director for Spain. She comes to us from the Department of Ethnic Studies at UC Berkeley, where she’s also been a member and chair of the Gender and Women’s Studies department.

Previously, she was at UC Davis from 2004-07 in Women and Gender Studies. Systemwide, she serves on the UC President’s LGBT advisory committee, and she has organized faculty workshops on disability and pedagogy at UCB. Juana Maria’s own fascinating background has fueled her commitment to serving underrepresented students.

Emily Stewart has left UCEAP for a position with UCSB Business Financial Services as the systems and data manager.

Emily has played an integral role at every step of the UCEAP Portal project—from maintaining MyEAP1 before deactivation, stepping in and overseeing the launch of the M2 MVP, and most recently, the Student Application's refactoring. We appreciate all the hard work that Emily has done for us over the last several years, and she will be missed.