AVC Claudia Covello retires after 35 years of service

It's with mixed emotions I announce Assistant Vice Chancellor Claudia Covello is retiring from UC Berkeley. I know she has loved serving in her role and supporting our campus community but she is ready for her next life adventure. Her last day will be June 28, 2018.

Claudia has over 35 years of service at University Health Services (UHS) where she has served as Executive Director for the past 10 years. This past year, she also welcomed the PATH to Care Center to her portfolio. She has been dedicated to the health and wellbeing of the campus, contributing her talents to a wide scope of health and wellness policies, programs, and services. During her time, Claudia has led many new initiatives that have directly benefited our campus from delivering collaborative health care to expanding mental health services to the Student Health Insurance Plan (SHIP).

Claudia envisioned and implemented a collaborative healthcare model at UHS, integrating mental health providers within the primary care clinics. This team-based model allows for a "warm handoff" to counseling support within the medical clinic, thus decreasing barriers to care and increasing efficiency. Students are highly appreciative to have a Behavior Health Provider as part of their medical team. Medical staff are enthusiastic to provide comprehensive and holistic care.

Under Claudia's leadership, UHS has also expanded mental health services by setting up satellite offices across campus giving students more options and better access to counseling staff. UHS currently has over 10 satellite offices in addition to the Tang Center. Later this year, we will be opening our newest expansion of Counseling and Psychological Services in brand new counseling offices at Anna Head. 

Claudia has provided institutional expertise and strong stewardship over SHIP, developing a robust insurance plan for our undergraduate and graduate students. Unlike most of the other UC campus health services, Berkeley manages its own health insurance plan which allows us to tailor plan benefits to the unique needs of Berkeley students. 

Over the next few weeks, Claudia and I will be developing a leadership transition plan for UHS and the PATH to Care Center. The UHS and PATH to Care leaders will continue to provide their unique skills and expertise and together we will continue to thrive and grow in wellness. I will update you as the interim plan is developed.

Please join me in congratulating Claudia for a well-deserved retirement.

Sincerely,

Stephen C. Sutton, Ed.D.

Interim Vice Chancellor

Division of Student Affairs