Provost Message - August 25, 2016
Convocation Speeches, Video Available Online
I would like to thank everyone who attended Convocation on Friday. Special thanks go to Dr. Jonathan Talberg and the students in the Bob Cole Conservatory Chamber Choir for an outstanding performance. If you were unable to attend you can watch the video or read speeches given by ASI President Marvin Flores, Academic Senate Chair Norbert Schürer, President Conoley and me. I invite you to share your thoughts about any of the remarks presented by emailing me at provost@csulb.edu.
Welcome to the New Year
I have enjoyed meeting many of you over the summer and I am excited to begin this new academic year as your provost.
This semester I will begin meeting with every academic department in the colleges. I will also be inviting every tenure track faculty member and full-time lecturer to join me in small groups for lunch. Due to the significant number of departments and faculty members, these endeavors will likely extend into the 2017-18 academic year. In addition, I will be hosting a lunch for all staff within Academic Affairs later this year. I look forward getting to know you and learning more about the departments within our division.
Leadership Fellows Program Leads to New Opportunities
With information sessions for the next cohort taking place next week, previous fellows share how the Leadership Fellows Program had an impact on their professional development. Learn more.
Library Joins CSU Unified Library Management System
By participating in the California State University Unified Library Management System, faculty and students will be able to find what they need more efficiently and the CSU will be able to analyze how collections are used, which is critical when negotiating with publishers. Learn more.
Academic Year Brings New Roles for Deans, Associate Deans
Several people are starting the 2016-17 year in new roles and searches are being conducted this year for several administrative positions in Academic Affairs.
As you know, Monica Lounsbery is the new dean of the College of Health and Human Services and Shireen Pavri has been named interim dean of the College of Education.
There are several changes among the associate deans. Jasmin Yur-Austin is interim associate dean in the College of Business Administration. In the College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, Barbara Taylor is the new associate dean for research; Dessie Underwood, who had served as the interim associate dean, has returned to teaching and research. In addition, Henry Fung has retired. Laura Portnoi has been named associate dean in the College of Education and Beth Manke has been named associate dean in the College of Liberal Arts.
Nele Hempel-Lamer, interim associate vice president for Undergraduate Studies and Dhushy Sathianathan, interim vice provost for Academic Planning will continue in their respective roles this year while searches are conducted for those positions. The priority deadline for applications to be reviewed for the assistant vice president for Enrollment Services is Friday, Aug. 26. Look for information about open forums with finalists later this semester.
I’d like to congratulate those who are continuing in their roles and welcome our new deans and associate deans to their leadership positions.
