An ally for outstanding Anteaters
He’s argued against voting and for the legalization of marijuana. He’s sided in support of the proposition that the Trump campaign is good for American democracy, while opposing the election of Mitt Romney. As one of the featured faculty in UCI’s Hot Topics debate series for the past nine years, political science professor Mark Petracca can easily take any stance on an issue and debate it with aplomb.
“The side doesn’t matter to me since, as an old high school and college debater, I know that it’s always possible to make a persuasive argument on any side,” he says.
But while his dexterity in a debate may have you questioning his politics, his dedication to students remains indisputable.
“Professor Petracca is more than a professor to me – he is my mentor and one of my biggest supporters,” wrote Daniela Estrada, junior, political science, in an email while en route to a leadership conference in Missouri. “He has believed in my academic abilities, which pushed me to do things that I never imagined I could achieve.”
Earlier this month, she was awarded a competitive Truman scholarship – one of only 54 in the country – due in no small part, she says, to Petracca’s work on her nomination.
“My chances of winning were so slim and the pressure so intense that I often doubted my abilities or having a shot at winning it. Professor Petracca was one of the main reasons that I was able to give it my all,” she said. “I am truly blessed to have him as my mentor and I know that without his guidance, I would not be where I am today – sitting on a plane to meet my Truman cohort.”
Estrada’s experience with Petracca is not unique, however – that same level of influence and academic attention is echoed by a number of Anteaters – past and present – who count the political pundit among their most valued mentors.
“Mark always encouraged us to stick to what we believed and be able to back it up,” says Marice H. DePasquale ’96. She specializes in public affairs and media relations in her role as principal with MConsensus in Santa Ana. “This has been critical to my success, it has kept my focus on what I believe, and created the passion I have in my career.”
For the past five years, the School of Social Sciences has tapped Petracca’s energy and enthusiasm for pushing student success and scholarship through his role as associate dean of undergraduate studies. The position – to which he was recently reappointed for another five-year term – puts him in direct academic oversight of UCI’s largest group of undergrads. Ask him, and he’ll say they’re arguably the best on campus.
“Truman scholars, Fulbrights, outstanding lawyers, teachers, diplomats – the list of outstanding social sciences students and alumni goes on, and many of them come from backgrounds that would consider just getting to UCI a success,” he says.
Long before taking his current post, Petracca put in hours of his days writing award recommendations to recognize these future leaders – efforts that have only increased. In the past few years alone, he’s led the successful nomination process of more than five Fulbright scholars, five Aldrich scholars (UCI’s outstanding junior), four Aeberhard Memorial Awards (UCI’s outstanding freshman), three Lauds and Laurels Awards for Outstanding Undergraduate, and the recent Truman scholar. And that’s only the student side. He also coordinates and supports the school’s efforts for all Lauds and Laurels and Academic Senate awards.
"The School of Social Sciences has maintained its commitment to the highest level of educational excellence in no small measure due to Mark Petracca's dedication to the cause,” says Bill Maurer, dean. “As we have grown, as we have added new programs and as we have served ever greater numbers of students – and an increasing diversity of students, as well – Mark has ensured we create opportunities for everyone to excel. And he always takes the time to make sure that our students' incredible achievements receive the recognition they deserve."
All of this, Petracca doesn’t necessarily see as work – he counts it as the most satisfying part of his job.
“Program creation and development and the promotion of students for awards and scholarships is really rewarding,” he says. “We [the school] have continued to be successful in obtaining campus and national recognition for the achievements of our students and have expanded somewhat the opportunity for such recognition locally while also increasing the school-wide recognition of teaching excellence among the faculty.”
Among his greatest accomplishments thus far as associate dean, he counts reversing declining student enrollments in the school and development of a number of new, interdisciplinary certificate programs, including cultural competency and entrepreneurship. He’s also led the charge to refocus efforts of the Social Sciences Academic Resource Center and expand services provided by the school’s top-notch Office of Undergraduate Student Affairs.
“Associate dean Petracca's commitment to the School of Social Sciences is exceptional. He works hard to get our students and faculty recognized for their outstanding accomplishments inside and outside of the classroom,” says Helen Morgan, director of the school’s Undergraduate Student Affairs Office. “He is someone who has made a true difference for the school.”
But Petracca’s student-centered efforts didn’t start in 2011 when he was named associate dean. They were at the heart of his move to UCI in the early 80s and they’ve been ever present since.
A New England native, Petracca was attracted to the Southern California campus’s openness to change and innovation and the possibility of contributing to the growth of a new, vibrant campus.
“Having taught at the University of Chicago, I had taken my first full-time job at Amherst College, a very old and highly respected liberal arts college,” he says. The problem, though, says Petracca, was that being at an older campus meant many processes, procedures and mindsets were pretty rooted.
“UCI was just beginning to grow, build, innovate, and so forth,” he says. “UCI was not – and is not – set in its ways and that seemed exciting and it remains exciting to this day.” Another selling point for the East Coaster was the highly interdisciplinary quality of the faculty and school intellectual life, a feature still very much present in the School of Social Sciences today.
But there was another aspect of the campus that really piqued Petracca’s interest – its focus on first generation students. In his time at UCI, he’s seen the number of students who are the first in their family to go to college increase to more than half – 51.1 percent – of the university’s incoming undergrads (2015).
“I’m a first generation college student and even back then, UCI was seen as a place where first generation students were very much a part of the campus,” he says. “I wanted to attempt to provide these students the support, guidance, and nurturing which I was very fortunate to receive as a Cornell undergraduate in the 1970s.”
Having been on campus for much of UCI’s short history, he’s seen a lot of changes, and those that he feels most proud of are initiatives – several of which he’s shepherded – aimed at helping first gen students succeed via scholarship support and academic enrichment targeted to their unique experience.
“Associate dean Petracca was the first and the most enthusiastic supporter of the First Generation First Quarter Challenge, the School of Social Sciences' new mentorship program by and for first generation students,” says Anita Casavantes Bradford, Chicano/Latino studies and history associate professor and co-director of the school’s first gen program. “His leadership, support and ongoing guidance have played a crucial role in making this program a reality. His dedication to first generation students – his passionate belief in their potential – has provided impetus to the school's efforts to more effectively serve the more than sixty percent of our students who are first in the family to attend university.”
When he first arrived on campus, “UCI was an institution which pretty much admitted everyone who applied and most of the students who applied were from Orange County,” he says.
Considered a commuter campus at that point, the student body was not reflective of the diversity of the state, he says – something that has now completely changed as UCI draws students from across the state – and increasingly the country and the globe – with a highly competitive admissions rate. And he’s proud of the direction it’s going; he sees the university’s role as an important one within the community.
“UCI is one of the premier public universities in the state – and the nation for that matter – and we have a responsibility to educate our students in a fashion which will make them fully productive and engaged citizens,” he says. “This entails the development of both short-term and life-long skills, but it also means that we need to train them to be effective problem-solvers, decision-makers, and leaders.”
It’s not a job that he takes lightly, despite his feisty and energetic attitude both in the classroom and in his leadership responsibilities within the school. Case in point: Petracca has taught 6B Intro to Political Science – the required class for all poli sci majors – for 28 years at UCI with enrollments ranging from 200-400 students per section.
Michael Fermin ’91 and current Chief Assistant District Attorney in San Bernardino County, first came to know Petracca through the course.
“Professor Petracca always concerned himself with providing an excellent environment for students to learn,” he says. “His dry humor always kept students engaged and involved in class – and frankly, it kept me in stiches.” But for Fermin, it was the extra steps Petracca took to get to know his students that really stood out.
“One day, he asked six students to come to the lectern at the end of the lecture; I was one of those students. His purpose was real simple. He wanted to meet some of his students and bring them to lunch at the University Club,” he says. “Later that week, we met him there, and he spent the entire time asking about us – our background, our thoughts, our hopes and dreams. He made clear that should we have any questions or needed any guidance his door would be open, and it has been. I never had an instructor ever do that before, or since. Professors don’t do this – but he did, because he cared about us.”
Through his work as a teacher, mentor and administrator, Petracca estimates he’s reached more than 19,000 students in his 31 years at UCI.
He’s been recognized with a number of awards for his efforts, including the UCI Alumni Association Lauds and Laurels Award for Distinguished Teaching (’88), the Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Research (’98), and the Instructional Resource Center’s award for outstanding commitment to TA training and undergraduate education (’98). In 2001, he received the Teaching Innovator of the Year award from UCI’s Academic Senate, and the following year, the senate honored him with the Distinguished Faculty Lectureship Award for Teaching, UCI’s highest award given for teaching excellence. He’s also been recognized for his mentorship from the Women’s Caucus of the American Political Science Association (’04) and advising from Pi Sigma Alpha (’08), the national political science honors association.
From 1996-2002 and again from 2004-11, Petracca served as chair of the Department of Political Science – home to one of the most popular undergrad majors on campus – where he oversaw course development, faculty hiring and student enrollment. From 2003-06, he was the faculty associate to then dean of social sciences, Barbara Dosher.
Somewhere in all of this, he’s found time to continue his research on American politics, political theory, constitutional reform, and public policy, having authored/co-authored three books and dozens of scholarly articles. He’s also delivered invited testimony before both the House Judiciary’s Subcommittee on Civil and Constitutional Rights and the Senate Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on the Constitution. And he’s a prolific media contributor quoted frequently in the LA Times, Chicago Tribune, San Francisco Chronicle, and Christian Science Monitor, to name a few. He’s been a fixed presence on KOCE’s “Real Orange” and beginning in October, he’ll be a regular commentator on PBS SoCal’s “Inside OC.”
When asked why he continues to put in the extra work in service and leadership roles within the school and campus when he could choose to focus more on research – a route many academic faculty would prefer – he gives two reasons.
“I really enjoy working with my staff, who are all outstanding, on a daily basis,” he says. “I also really enjoy being a part of the development of the school and the campus and there is still much to develop. In many ways, at only 50 years old, UCI is still building its foundation, and it’s very satisfying to be a part of that construction project.”
And who could argue with that?
-Heather Ashbach, UCI School of Social Sciences
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