UCSC to reduce number of provosts by half, with each leading two of its 10 colleges instead of one

Starting next academic year, UC Santa Cruz’s residential college leaders – called provosts – will oversee two colleges instead of one each – reducing the number of provosts by half, from 10 to five. 

Since the school’s founding, one provost oversaw one college each and lived in a home nearby. As the head of a college, they lead curriculum development that aligns with the college’s theme, create programs and serve as a mentor to the students within that college. 

University officials say they’re “investing in the college leadership by piloting” this model, which is similar to how UC San Diego operates its colleges. Rather than having faculty with part-time provost duties, they will be full-time provosts and focus on enhancing the college experience for students over three-year terms. 

“This shift recognizes and elevates the important role provosts play in the colleges and in undergraduate experience at UC Santa Cruz,” campus spokesperson Scott Hernandez-Jason said via email. “The change will enable the faculty leaders to focus their attention on enhancing the college experience.” 

The decision, however, comes amid a list of changes that some faculty, lecturers and alumni say are diminishing the college experience. Last fall, Lookout reported that the university is starting to phase out the use of the provost homes as residences for the college leaders. The spaces were often used for intimate gatherings for students and mentors as well as faculty meeting places. UCSC officials also have launched a discussion around changing the residential college system, leading some faculty members to fear that the university will significantly alter them to reduce costs in light of the school’s structural deficit. 

UCSC has already tested the idea of having one provost assigned to two colleges. Kim Lau oversees College 9 and John R. Lewis College, while Matt O’Hara leads Cowell and Stevenson colleges. Six other faculty lead the remaining six colleges. O’Hara talked to Lookout about the transition to five provosts next year and addressed the widespread concerns about the restructuring of the colleges. He said the changes aren’t about budget issues but are meant to improve coordination and increase equity among the offerings for students across the colleges. 

“It’s hard to know whether a reform is meant to strengthen something or move in a different direction,” O’Hara said. “From where I sit … it’s meant to build on what’s going well and make the colleges as strong as they can be.”

The university announced the change on Friday. O’Hara and Lau will remain in their posts. Mayanthi Fernando will lead Oakes and Rachel Carson colleges, Aims McGuinness will oversee Crown and Merrill colleges and Soraya Murray will head Kresge and Porter colleges. 

O’Hara, a history professor at UCSC since 2006, was first appointed provost of Stevenson in 2020 and was named interim provost of Cowell in July 2025. He describes the provost role as being a “catalyst” to help students best take advantage of UCSC’s resources. 

“We’re here to help students establish themselves, make connections, and navigate the ups and downs of their time here. … It’s a pretty wide range of stuff,” he said.

Four years ago, O’Hara founded a program at Stevenson to provide students opportunities for professional networking, and to introduce them to off-campus professionals and sometimes faculty. Called the Stevenson Academic and Professional Network (SPAN), the program had about 60 students participating annually. This year, as interim provost at Cowell, he suggested opening up the program to Cowell students, as well. Now, a total of about 100 students from both colleges are participating.

“The colleges have sometimes developed programs that might be great but might only be impacting a certain tenth of the student population,” he said. “[The provost change] is about sharing information and being able to scale programs.”

Some concerns from alumni

After hearing about the recent changes to the colleges and provosts, alumnus Paul Schoellhamer said he was concerned not only about the impacts of the changes, but also about how the university quietly implemented them amid the broader exploration of the college model.   

“They’ve made major decisions and have not explained them or even announced them publicly,” he said. “It’s all very odd and very troubling.” 

Schoellhamer, 78, was a freshman the first year the university opened, in 1965, when Cowell College was the first and only residential college. He recalls how founding Cowell provost Page Smith and founding faculty member John Dizikes – later a Cowell provost – were accessible daily and could be approached with “whatever your concern is, or whatever your question is.” 

“They were available. You knew where they lived. It was 100 yards away. You knew where their office was. It was 50 yards away,” Schoellhamer said. “It was that kind of world, and that’s what has gradually atrophied and is now being entirely taken away.” 

Alumnus Paul Hall said having one provost per two colleges will impair each college’s ability to maintain their unique identities. 

“Having one provost who’s assigned to handle two colleges, that just vitiates college identity,” he said. “It means that the provost is going to be nothing other than a kind of super-administrator.” 

Hall is a member of the founding class of Merrill College who graduated in 1972. He has served on the UC Santa Cruz Foundation board of trustees for 34 years and is a former board president. 

He acknowledged that Chancellor Cindy Larive is faced with challenging circumstances: the steadily decreasing funding, and the demands for more technical degree programs, representing a shift away from the humanities. 

“With due deference to Cindy, and the fact that she’s got a hard job, and there’s money crunches and there’s a whole lot of competing priorities, I think that we’re going in the wrong direction on the colleges,” he said. “They’re a very, very valuable part of the student experience.” 

But O’Hara said he “totally” disagrees that the shift to one provost for two colleges will cause the relationships between students and provosts to deteriorate. This past year, he said, he’s been able to develop connections at both colleges. 

“Even at two colleges, it’s still at a scale that allows you to be present and available,” he said. “My hope is that people will be pleasantly surprised.”

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