Editors’ Note: Answers have been edited for brevity and clarity. 

In a recent campus news email sent by Chancellor Cynthia Larive’s office, Jennifer Johnson-Hanks was announced as UC Santa Cruz’s new campus provost and executive vice chancellor (CP/EVC). 

Johnson-Hanks, an anthropologist who specializes in cultural demography, has served as the executive dean of the College of Letters and Science at UC Berkeley for the past five years. The position advocates and builds connections for the 79 majors and various programs within the college. 

City on a Hill Press reached out for an interview with the new CP/EVC who is set to assume the position on Jan. 1, 2027. The interview was conducted via email due to scheduling conflicts.

How will you ensure that student voices are accurately taken into account when approaching large issues impacting students, such as rising housing and tuition costs, severely delayed financial aid and access to mental health and emergency resources for students?

The well-being of all members of our campus community is a first-order priority. This is both a human issue and a mission-centered one: Universities are comprised of people more than of buildings, and so shepherding the institution is centrally about caring for the people. People cannot do their best intellectual work if they are scared, hungry, or can’t afford to live! 

We need to have a variety of mechanisms in place for students to express themselves. Student government offers one important mechanism, but some students may not feel well-represented by their elected leaders. Complementary mechanisms include short surveys; focus groups or charettes; and longer-duration working groups including staff, faculty, and students together. 

Mechanisms need to translate hearing into doing. If students are raising concerns on topics around which we are not yet working, then elevating the topic into a workstream might itself be the most important way to take student voices into account. 

UCSC is currently in a $79 million budget deficit. What are your plans to address this crisis, and how will it impact academic processes, tuition and student life?

I can say four things at a more general level: First, since you ask about tuition, remember that tuition is set by the UC Regents for the system as a whole, and historically the regents have not considered campus deficits to be sufficient grounds to raise tuition … that is not the most likely path forward. 

Second, I would hesitate on the word “crisis.” This is a real challenge, but UCSC has so much going for it that this is a challenge that we can manage. 

Third, structural deficits are very common in higher education today, so this is not a challenge at all unique to UCSC. That means that we have lots of partners, across the UC system [and] nationally, who are trying to solve the same problem and with whom we share ideas.

And finally, structural deficits usually do require cutting spending in the short term. However, the solution over the longer term includes finding ways to increase revenue. 

As you look forward to this role, do you have any specific goals for the university in mind? How will you ensure they happen?

The 2023 “Leading the Change: The UC Santa Cruz Strategic Plan,” identifies five overarching goals for the university: unparalleled undergraduate student education and experience; envisioning graduate education for the future; distinction in research, scholarly, and creative activities; inclusive and thriving campus community; and climate change, sustainability, and resilience. Along with eliminating the budget deficit, these five campus goals will orient and motivate my work. 

How to ensure they happen? Making anything happen in a university requires working in partnership with faculty, students, and staff — leading from the middle. 

What is one mantra that you live by when approaching your work in higher education?

‘Work hard and do what’s right.’ It’s not fancy, but it’s classic for a reason.