Stott leaving UB for USC

The architect of the UB Curriculum is leaving the university for sunny California.

Andrew Stott, vice provost and dean of undergraduate education and director of the Honors College, will leave UB to accept a position as college dean of undergraduate education for the Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences at the University of Southern California, effective Aug. 16.

A member of UB’s English faculty since 2002, Stott has led the Honors College since 2012 and UB’s undergraduate enterprise since 2013. He transformed UB’s undergraduate curriculum, creating new educational opportunities, enhancing student support to improve graduation and retention rates, and raising the overall prominence and quality of undergraduate education at the university.

“Andy’s commitment to the success of UB’s students and undergraduate programs has greatly advanced our institutional mission of achieving academic excellence,” said Charles F. Zukoski, provost and executive vice president for academic affairs, in announcing Stott’s decision to leave the university.

Zukoski said Stott’s most significant achievement at the university was leading the creation and implementation of the UB Curriculum, “a landmark effort that has earned UB national attention for educational innovation.”

The UB Curriculum represents UB’s largest curricular revision in decades, Zukoski noted, involving the creation or revision of approximately 1,000 courses and engaging hundreds of faculty and staff members. “Strategically designed to incorporate high-impact practices that lead to future academic success and provide students with a more coherent and integrated undergraduate academic experience, the UB Curriculum is a model 21st-century core education program,” he said. “The creation and implementation of the UB Curriculum re-energized the campus community around undergraduate education and gave the core program new purpose and coherence.”

Zukoski praised Stott for his commitment to providing students with “a transformative educational experience that prepares them for lifelong learning and success.”

Under Stott’s leadership, UB has “infused the undergraduate academic experience with integrative and experiential learning opportunities that provide students with intellectual flexibility and the ability to apply learning,” he said.

Stott also led the redesign of the Honors College curriculum, placing greater focus on civic engagement, and oversaw expansion of the Undergraduate Academies, transforming them into “hubs for experiential learning opportunities,” Zukoski said.

Stott initiated UB’s first comprehensive review and reorganization of Cora P. Maloney College, leading to better aligned and more effective support and development programs for under-represented, low-income and first-generation students. To improve writing support for the entire campus, he expanded the Center for Excellence in Writing to include a digital composition lab, satellite offices and instructional design support for writing instructors.

Most recently, as part of an effort to improve retention rates, he led the design of a seamless and coherent First-Year Experience.