With all of the happy activities surrounding commencement, the awards ceremonies, and the retirement parties, May is the time of year when we celebrate the wonderful achievements of our students, faculty, and staff, say goodbye to departing colleagues, share best wishes with our graduates, and reflect on the accomplishments of the past year.
This year, our commencement festivities are made even more exciting with the news that we are on track with the highest graduation rate and the highest number of graduates California State University, Long Beach (CSULB) has ever seen.
Graduation is the culmination of everything our students, faculty, and staff have worked to achieve. Our enhanced efforts to ensure needed academic support have enabled nearly 8,200 students to graduate in six years. I want to congratulate all of the graduates and thank the faculty and staff who have supported and encouraged our graduating seniors as well as our graduating master’s and doctoral students.
This spring we are also saying goodbye to retiring faculty, staff, and administrators. Among those who will be retiring are Jean Houck, Dean of the College of Education, and
Marilyn Crego, Dean of University College and Extension Services, both of whom have provided strong leadership and dedicated service to our university. To all who are leaving or transitioning into retirement, we thank you for your service to our students and to the university. You have left an indelible mark on countless students and colleagues.
Although we are saying goodbye to our graduates and retiring colleagues, we are also very pleased to welcome a new unit into the Division of Academic Affairs. The Office of Institutional Research, under the leadership of Van Novack, has transferred this month to Academic Affairs. Institutional Research provides significant data information and analysis to Academic Affairs annually as well as to other areas of the campus, including the Office of the President. We are delighted to welcome Dr. Novack and his staff, Stacie Bauerle, Tom Carberry, Michael Remley, Sharon Xu, Suprea Koul, Debbie Drumheller, and Lori Chavez, to our Division.
I want to thank the faculty and staff in the Division of Academic Affairs for your outstanding contributions throughout this past year. I wish you all a productive and enjoyable summer.