Re: Merritt Writing Program Director Named
To: All faculty and staff
June 29, 2021

Dear Campus Community,
 
Please join me in thanking Associate Teaching Professor Paul Gibbons for his extraordinary service and leadership as Interim Director of the Merritt Writing Program (MWP) over the past two years. In addition to leading the existing program, Paul has been instrumental in the planning process and future design of the MWP as it has transitioned from the VPDUE’s office and into SSHA. Paul has been a tireless advocate for the program and faculty; undoubtedly, his efforts and collaborations will have lasting and positive effects. He will be returning to the MWP and the Global Arts Media and Writing Studies Department as faculty and continue his positive impact and contribution to the program and university.

After a nationwide search, I am pleased to announce that Dr. Estee Beck will assume the MWP Directorship as of July 1, 2021.
Dr. Beck served six years as an assistant professor of professional and technical writing/digital humanities in the Department of English at The University of Texas at Arlington (UTA), where she was promoted to associate professor with tenure in 2021. Dr. Beck has coordinated the technical writing and professional communication program at UTA since 2017.
 
Dr. Beck is an accomplished author, co-author, and co-editor of publications on topics of surveillance and privacy, digital literacy, algorithms, and maker literacies. Her recent co-edited collection with Dr. Les Hutchinson Campos, Privacy Matters: Conversations about Surveillance within and beyond the Classroom, is the first book-length project on surveillance and privacy within the field of rhetoric and composition. Over the years, she has developed courses in multi-modal rhetoric, technical communication, research methods in rhetoric and composition, as well as graduate courses in scholarly publication, surveillance and privacy, and technical writing across the disciplines for graduate students in various disciplines. In 2018, Dr. Beck received the UTA College of Liberal Arts teaching award for tenure-track faculty.
 
Dr. Beck will facilitate the long term good work of the MWP. Her experience and background will be essential to MWP ’s continued development and academic planning, particularly as new writing initiatives evolve on campus. Her understanding of the intersections of pedagogy and diversity, particularly for a college demographic like ours, will foster new and creative approaches to teaching.   
 
Finally, I want to thank the search committee responsible for bringing Dr. Beck to our campus: Jayson Beaster-Jones (co-Chair; GAMWS), Anne Zanzucchi (co-Chair; Associate Dean), Amy Fenstermaker (MWP), Arnold Kim (Applied Math), Catherine Koehler (MWP), and Eileen Camfield (GAMWS, CETL). Tanya Golash-Boza was also an immense help as our FEA.
 
Please join me in warmly welcoming Dr. Estee Beck to the UC Merced community.
 
Sincerely,
 
Jeff Gilger
Dean, School of Social Sciences, Humanities and Arts