Jeffrey Hole

As the inaugural Director of the First Year Experience at University of the Pacific, I lead efforts to support student success through immersive, interdisciplinary and community-oriented learning. Working across academic and co-curricular domains, I help design experiences that foster belonging, curiosity and connection—encouraging students to explore who they are, what is meaningful to them and how they want to engage with the world.

My work draws from a deep interest in institutions and institutional change. Trained as a scholar of American literature, culture and law, I have published essays in American Literature, Criticism, Telos and Review of International American Studies (RIAS), among others, with a focus on how narratives shape and reflect the legal and cultural structures that govern our lives.

In recent years, I’ve turned this lens toward the institution of higher education itself. I now focus on designing and implementing new learning ecosystems that are grounded in design thinking, systems thinking and real-world collaboration. I believe that reimagining learning for the twenty-first century requires not only cross-disciplinary innovation but also active partnerships across sectors—linking universities with industry, civic institutions and nonprofit organizations to better serve students and society.

Beyond the university, I bring the same spirit of curiosity and continuous learning to my own life. Whether hiking and camping, flying airplanes as a private pilot, remodeling houses or pursuing health and wellness, I seek out experiences that challenge and expand my perspective. Recalling Walt Whitman’s line, “I am large, I contain multitudes,” I help students recognize that same capacity within themselves—their ability to grow, adapt and thrive in a dynamic and complex world.