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Jennifer Barrett McDuffie, who has been at the forefront of CU Boulder’s pandemic response as associate vice chancellor for Health and Wellness Services and head of the Pandemic Response Office, has been named associate vice chancellor and chief of staff in Strategic Resources and Support (SRS), reporting to Chief Operating Officer Patrick O’Rourke.  

McDuffie will assume her new role, previously held by Abby Benson, on Jan. 18.  

“I have had the privilege of working in the Division of Student Affairs since February of 2015 and have been fortunate to fulfill many roles during this time, including leading Health and Wellness since 2017,” McDuffie said. “I am grateful for the time, the collaboration and the progress we made to ensure our people are at the center of all that we do, and I look forward to continuing the strong partnerships and action-focused work in this new role.” 

As chief of staff, McDuffie will work closely with O’Rourke to manage the day-to-day operations of the SRS division, which oversees the business and operational aspects of the Boulder campus, including technology, administrative, facilities, business and finance. 

“I’m very grateful that Jennifer will be joining the SRS team,” O’Rourke said. “Over the course of the past year and a half, I’ve seen Jennifer lead our campus’s pandemic response efforts. She is a great teammate with relationships across the campus who can help us better serve our campus community.” 

McDuffie arrived at CU Boulder in 2007 as an admissions counselor, has more than 18 years of experience in higher education, and has served in multiple leadership roles at CU Boulder that include assistant dean of students and director of New Student and Family programs. In these roles she led recruitment and retention initiatives in enrollment management and in academic policy development, where she created a new honors program in the Leeds School of Business. 

She holds a bachelor’s degree in family studies and psychology from Mississippi University for Women; a master’s degree in counselor education with an emphasis on student affairs in higher education from Mississippi State University; and a doctorate of educational leadership and equity from CU Denver.  

Separately, CU Boulder’s Office of Government and Community Engagement is shifting from the auspices of SRS to begin reporting directly to the Office of the Chancellor. This realignment will allow a more direct connection between the campus’s external affairs efforts and initiatives in the chancellor’s office that impact stakeholders across the campus community.