Summer is a quiet time in Davis when the majority of students go home and the city feels like a small town again.
However, during the summer new courses and programming in the College of Letters and Science are creating new opportunities for students while generating new revenue streams for academic departments.
Jessie Murray, chief administrative officer for the Orange Cluster in the College of Letters and Science, works closely with her three departments: communication, linguistics and political science.
In spite of the challenges across higher education, Murray has helped her departments find new ways to support students and to take the sting out of budget uncertainty and cuts. For her work, Murray received the 2025 Chancellor’s Outstanding Staff Award for Exceptional University Management, the highest staff recognition at UC Davis.
“I think it’s really important to be ahead of the game, to be innovative, to be aware of the pulse of how our students can make a mark in society,” said Murray.
Increasing department revenues with summer programming
Murray chairs the College of Letters and Science Revenue Committee, which was established in 2024 as part of the college’s Strategic Vision. One of her main goals is to make sure that her departments are financially sustainable regardless of the broader budget situation.
So far, her departments have found a lot of success by offering summer courses online, which Murray said makes sense. Most UC Davis students go home for the summer, but many of them still want to take classes. This is especially true for students adding a second major and those who want to graduate a little earlier.
Online classes also expand the pool of students because they are open to anyone globally.
“You and I can take summer classes,” said Murray. “Offering summer courses virtually is an opportunity for anyone to get insight on the amazing curriculum that our faculty offer.”
The benefit for departments is the revenue these classes generate. A portion of the course fees comes back to the department. The Department of Communication’s summer courses, which are now completely online, have increased summer revenues by more than 50%. The Department of Political Science has also increased the number of its online courses.
However, not all courses are a good fit for online instruction, Murray said. For example, an online intensive theater course on acting would not be likely to replicate instruction in-person. Moving courses online has to be done in a holistic way.
From unexpected revenues to a permanent endowment
Murray found another opportunity to support students after a surprisingly successful summer activity hosted by the Department of Linguistics.
Every other year, the Linguistic Society of America holds summer Linguistics Institutes hosted at a different university. Over roughly a month, students and faculty in linguistics take part in courses, lectures, workshops and social events that strengthen their research and their connections in the profession.
It’s also not cheap. It costs about $2,500 to attend all workshops, plus travel and lodging costs.
When UC Davis hosted the summer institute in 2019, the event was wildly successful. Host universities typically pay forward any remaining revenues to support next year’s Institute. However, attendance at UC Davis and the resulting revenues were both higher than anyone could have imagined.
Murray worked with Raúl Aranovich, then-chair of the Department of Linguistics, and Professor Georgia Zellou to establish a $200,000 endowment that would support UC Davis graduate students to attend the Summer Institute in future years.
“The funding ensures that the Department of Linguistics can showcase the remarkable work done by our faculty and our graduate students, so it is it was an honor to be a part of making that happen,” said Murray.
Building partnerships to move forward
Murray’s career in higher education administration began as a student employee at UCLA, then grew to a permanent staff position first with the Department of Theater and then as manager of the Department of Asian American Studies. She joined UC Davis in her current position in 2016
In Murray’s nominations for the Chancellor’s Staff Award, people described her as leading with warmth, trust and vision, and as someone who creates a workplace culture rooted in collaboration and respect.
“My experience with her as a manager was really more as a mentor,” one nominator wrote. “She would take time to have one-on-one check-ins with staff and discuss where we wanted to grow at UC Davis.”
Murray said that her successes have always come from strong partnership and open communication. She said that these are both strengths within the College of Letters and Science, but she said the college is unique for the deep connections across departments and administrative clusters.
Taken together, these strengths create opportunities to be innovative in how the college supports its students.
“We all want to ensure that our students come out with the best possible educational experience,” said Murray. “Just because the program has been the way it's been for decades doesn't mean that there can't be new changes that will make it better.”
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