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FDU appoints VP for student affairs, dean of students

Gabrielle Saulsbery//June 2, 2021//

FDU appoints VP for student affairs, dean of students

Gabrielle Saulsbery//June 2, 2021//

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Uchenna Baker, vice president for student affairs and dean of students, Fairleigh Dickinson University.
Uchenna Baker takes up her post at FDU in August. – FAIRLEIGH DICKINSON UNIVERSITY

Fairleigh Dickinson University appointed Uchenna Baker as vice president for student affairs and dean of students, effective Aug. 1.

Baker will serve on the president’s cabinet and report directly to the recently appointed senior vice president for university operations, Robert Pignatello.

Her appointment was announced June 2 by University President Christopher Capuano.

Baker is currently the vice president of student affairs and dean of students at The University of Puget Sound. Previously, she served as assistant dean of campus life/director of residence life at Elon University; associate director of residence life at the University of North Carolina Wilmington; director of residence and life and housing at Utica College; and residence life coordinator at Rutgers University’s Cook and Douglass campuses.

Christopher Capuano, president of Fairleigh Dickinson University.
Capuano

“Dr. Baker has a proven track record and commitment to being an inclusive, thoughtful and strategic leader who can pull people together around a shared mission, garner insights from campus partners, and develop new ways forward to serve students in today’s rapidly changing higher education landscape,” Capuano said in a prepared statement. “She further is known for building close partnerships and for being a strong advocate for the integration of academic and student life. She is a perfect fit for FDU, and I am confident she will have an outstanding impact on our community.”

At the University of Puget Sound, she successfully led her division through the completion of its first strategic plan, which provided a new structure and a roadmap for assessment of the office and adaptation to the changing needs of students, according to her hiring announcement.

She’s created and taught courses on leadership, including The Science of Effective Leadership: An Ontological and Phenomenological Model. She’s presented her findings on leadership at local, national and international conferences, as well as within her institutions. She’s also advocated for and taught courses in social justice and diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Baker is a member of the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators’ inaugural Equity Leadership Academies in partnership with the University of Southern California Race and Equity Institute.