Leadership Transition in Academic Affairs

Sent: July 8, 2025

From: Vincent J. Del Casino, Jr., Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs

Dear Colleagues,

I am writing to announce changes that are coming to the Division of Academic Affairs later this summer. First, Ron Rogers has decided to retreat from his role as Vice Provost for Academic Innovation and Institutional Effectiveness to his faculty position in the Department of Psychology in the Fall semester. When I first approached Ron to take up the role of leading the buildout of SJSU Online, not only did he say yes, but he did so with energy and enthusiasm. Over time, I asked him to take on even more and to my great fortune, he chose to stick it out for four years! I am excited for him and deeply thankful for all the work he has done to not only build out SJSU Online but also lead us through our WSCUC Accreditation Special Visit as our Accreditation Liaison Officer (ALO) and help drive transformative change in areas related to global outreach and institutional effectiveness.

Second, Nami Shukla has decided to officially retire from SJSU after 17 years as a leader in our Professional and Continuing Education (PaCE) team. As you know, Nami has been a committed and passionate member of the Professional and Global Engagement (PGE) team serving not only in a number of key leadership roles but also as Interim Dean of the College of Professional and Global Education before taking on her current position as Associate Vice Provost for Professional and Continuing Education within the Academic Innovation and Institutional Effectiveness unit. During Nami’s time on campus, numerous new programs have been launched and our enrollment in PaCE programs has skyrocketed. Her last official day on campus will be August 29th.

We will have some time to come together and talk more about the contributions of these two colleagues before they step back from their roles. Still, I would like to publicly thank both of them for their hard work and dedication to advancing SJSU initiatives and developing a culture of creativity and innovation in our academic community.

I will be meeting with the Academic Senate Executive Committee in mid-July to discuss the transition, share some thoughts about the organization that may come from these changes, and solicit their advice. In the immediate term, however, given the critical nature of our accreditation program, I have asked Magdalena Barrera, Vice Provost for Faculty Success, to step in as ALO while also overseeing our institutional effectiveness work until a permanent organizational leadership structure can be established. We will work with WSCUC this summer to manage the official transition.

In the meantime, please join me again in thanking Ron and Nami. I am deeply appreciative of their contributions and thank them for what they have done and what they will continue to do for SJSU.

Sincerely,
Vin