Women of Impact: Finding Passion Within Your Purpose

Pauline Powell works behind the scenes as an assistant dean in the College of Arts and Sciences, and she loves every minute of it. Every once in a while, though, she’s pushed to the front of the stage to show her face. Even in those moments, she says she’s fine with it — if it benefits students.

“I’ve been doing good trouble, good work,” says Powell, referencing the sage advice of the late Senator John Lewis. “I’m able to enact change in my role and that’s exciting to me.”

Come this August, Powell will have been enacting change at the University of San Diego for 21 years. In that time, she has witnessed the campus transform and grow into a more diverse and inclusive place. To this very day, Powell is a part of that continued effort to create a campus where all walks of life are not only welcomed, but can thrive academically.

It is for this work that Powell received the 2021 administrator Woman of Impact award, nominated for her deep commitment to equity and social justice, and her dedication to student success.

As an assistant dean, Powell works tirelessly to support a variety of projects that directly benefit students and faculty.

Going back to her first years with the university, Powell recalls noticing a peculiar trend. She noticed every spring semester a good number of African American students were around for the fall semester to compete on sports teams. By spring, she says they were gone.

“I thought, ‘would anyone think about me if I were gone?’,” she recalls. “Pamela Gray Payton ’16 (MS) [former Assistant Vice President of University Communications at USD]
and I looked at each other and knew we needed to get these students to build a community to keep them here. There was a need for it and out of that came the Black Student Resource Center.”

More recently, Powell helped ensure students wouldn’t fall between the cracks during remote learning throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. In Fall 2020, the Provost’s Office put together the Academic Affairs Undergraduate Implementation Task Force and Powell served on the Student Support subcommittee that discussed the well-being of students. 

What came out of the those discussions was the idea to have a faculty member “report a student concern” through the Faculty Alert Outreach (FAO) connected to a professor's class roster. If a faculty member was concerned for a student’s well-being, they could notify the College and the Schools who would then reach out to the student and make sure they were OK.

“We could do this because we’re a tight-knit university,” says Powell. “We do want to know what’s going on in a student’s life so we can help with whatever is needed: adding or dropping classes, multitasking school and a full-time job, etc.” 

Powell believes that students have complicated lives and need help navigating their paths. 
She also thanks the “good people” around her for supporting her ideas and actualizing them.
“USD has allowed me the flexibility to do this. If I was at a public university, there would be more bureaucracy. But here, if I have an idea and get the right people on board, it will actually get implemented.”

Beyond her work, Powell is also connected deeply to her faith, which she credits as guiding her throughout her career.

“If you find your purpose in life, you’re going to be taken care of,” she says. “I started as a biology major at Azusa Pacific University. I took botany and thought, ‘maybe I better think of something else.’ I fell in love with higher education. I acknowledged the purpose that God has given me and I’m joyful working within that.” Finding your passion is key.

— Kelsey Grey '15 (BA)