Deputy Chancellor & Provost Finalists

 

Dr. Wei Zhou

A proud University of California, Davis Wheelhouse Fellow with a Ph.D. from the University of Texas at Austin’s top-ranked doctoral program, Dr. Wei Zhou has extensive administrative experience in multi-campus districts and Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs) serving large geographic areas and rural, suburban and urban communities as dean, vice president and president at California community colleges in the Bay Area, Central Valley, Inland Empire, Los Angeles and San Diego. Through these experiences, he has developed in-depth knowledge and broad competencies in instructional and student services, institutional research, planning and assessment, as well as human, technology, facilities and fiscal resources. Within multi-campus districts, he has committed to supporting districtwide coordination and alignment in programming and processes while recognizing the unique culture of and communities served by each college so that the district operates as an integrated system that runs cooperatively, efficiently, and effectively in serving the diverse service area and student population.

Dedicated to academic excellence, college access, success, employee and organizational development, and community engagement, Wei has fostered an equity-minded, global vision in a learning-centered, data-informed environment. He is well received for his commitment to a broadbased consultative culture engaging faculty, classified professionals, administrators, and students. Thanks to the support from talented, dedicated and hardworking faculty, classified professionals, administrators and students during his leadership, his colleges were ranked among the nation’s fastest-growing community colleges, developed innovative, award-winning on-campus and online instructional and student support programs, achieved regions’ top transfer and graduation rates, joined the international Tuning project and the national Achieving the Dream project, secured multi-million dollars of federal and state grants as well as funding through business and industry partnerships and fundraising activities, expanded higher education access to underserved communities, brought baccalaureate degrees to local students, and started or strengthened programs and services to close equity gaps.

Wei has also fostered collaborative relationships with business and industry, K-12 schools, higher education institutions, government and community organizations, and elected officials. In addition, he has been invited to serve on a number of local, county, regional, state and national boards and committees. Moreover, Wei has led statewide teams to help California community colleges on accreditation, strategic planning, resource allocation model, enrollment management, staff and organizational development, instructional and student support program development, implementation of Guided Pathways framework, and distance education.