After 18 years at Washington University in St. Louis, Debra Beck will be joining the University Health Center here at the University of Oregon as its newest executive director.
“I really wasn’t looking to leave,” Beck said of Washington University and her decision to apply to the UO opening. “It was something that was an opportunity that came my way, and it’s a good time in my life.”
Beck enters the executive director position after LeAnn Gutierrez left UO for Florida Atlantic University in May. Since May, Michael Griffel, Assistant Vice President for Student Services and Enrollment Management, has served as the UHC’s interim director.
According to Julia Pomerenk, the UO registrar and the chair of the Health Center Executive Director search committee, the process for selecting a new executive director began right after Gutierrez’s departure.
During Beck’s time at Washington University, she oversaw a number of changes to the center, including several building renovations.
Beck hopes to use her experience leading renovations to guide the UHC through its own multi-million dollar renovation. She said she’d like the remodel to focus on the “ability for students to access” the health center, including the flow of the entryway and the comfort of students visiting.
The first step in the process was the creation of a search committee, made up of representatives from groups like the University Health and Counseling Centers, Student Services and Enrollment Management and the Dean of Students’ office. Two undergraduate student members also joined the committee, according to Pomerenk.
An executive search firm helped establish a pool of 40 applicants for the position, said Pomerenk, and then narrowed the group to 13 candidates for the committee to review.
After a round of interviews, the final four candidates were brought to campus for a two-day interview process, including roundtables with those who will interact with the new Executive Director. After the search committee’s review of the finalists, Roger Thompson, Vice President for Student Services and Enrollment Management, announced Beck’s selection for the position.
“I think we found a really accomplished, strong, strategic leader for our University Health Center,” Thompson said in an interview. “She’s a clinician, she’s a former ER nurse, she has been a student health center administrator for nearly two decades.”
The first weeks and months of Beck’s tenure will be focused on fact gathering and learning the culture of the university and the UHC. Maintaining UHC services during the renovation will also be a top priority.
“I think it will be a challenge the next year to have comfortable healthcare being provided in a building that has construction in it and all around it,” said Beck.
After learning the ropes, Beck said she hopes to “build a strategic direction for UHC” by reviewing the financials, accreditation reports and satisfaction scores of the center. In an emailed statement, Beck said she feels “a university health center should always be student centered and focused on enhancing student success.”
Outside of work, Beck and her husband, Lorren, are looking forward to exploring Eugene. Most exciting, Beck said, will be the outdoor activities in Oregon and the “excitement and vibrancy” of the university.
“I’m really excited to join the health center team,” said Beck. “They’re a great team of people, and they’ve been very welcoming.”