Jolene Koester
President
California State University, Northridge
Dr. Jolene Koester began her appointment as the fourth president of California State University, Northridge on July 1, 2000, one of the largest campuses in the 23-campus California State University system. The University enrolls more than 32,000 students and employs nearly 4,000 faculty and staff. As a comprehensive university, it offers more than 90 different degrees at the bachelor's and master's levels in more than 60 different majors, as well as an education doctorate. In 2008, the institution celebrated its 50th anniversary as the only public university located in Los Angeles' San Fernando Valley, home to about 1.8 million residents. In Spring 2011, the University completed construction of the new Valley Performing Arts Center at California State University, Northridge, a state-of-the-art venue featuring a 1700-seat main performance hall, as well as rehearsal spaces, academic spaces, and an experimental theater.
Known nationally for her leadership in the area of higher education, Dr. Koester is a member and past chair of the Board of Directors for the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU). She recently accepted an appointment to chair the newly formed national steering committee, the College Readiness Partnership, which partners AASCU, the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) and the State Higher Education Executive Officers (SHEEO) association to address college readiness of high school graduates, focusing on aligning the academic preparation of high school students with the requirements of college enrollment and to eliminate the need for remediation. She also chaired the working group on Learning Outcomes, a key element of the Voluntary System of Accountability in which over 330 public colleges and universities now participate.
For the California State University system — the largest public higher education system in the nation — Dr. Koester serves on the Systemwide Budget Advisory Committee, the Human Resources Advisory Group, the Systemwide Admission Advisory Council, the Presidents' Council on Underserved Communities, the Housing Review Committee, and the Technology Steering Committee.
Dr. Koester serves the greater Los Angeles community on the boards of directors for the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce, the Economic Alliance of the San Fernando Valley, and the Valley Industry and Commerce Association. She also is a board member of the Los Angeles World Affairs Council and the Los Angeles Jobs and Economy Committee. She has received numerous awards and recognitions for her leadership in the Los Angeles region.
Since her arrival at Cal State Northridge, Dr. Koester has been committed to furthering the excellence of the University. Under her leadership, the University has increased retention and graduation rates while remaining accessible to qualified students and maintaining its historical commitment to diversity. The University plays an indispensable role in the region as an intellectual, cultural and economic driver. At the beginning of her presidency, Dr. Koester identified several goals to serve as the focus of the campus' efforts. These include improving graduation rates, creating a user-friendly campus, strengthening the University's connections to the community, and increasing fundraising.
Prior to her appointment at Cal State Northridge, Dr. Koester served as provost and vice president for Academic Affairs at California State University, Sacramento, a post she had held since 1993. Before her service as provost, she held other executive positions in the academic affairs division at Sacramento State, and was a faculty member there, as a professor of communication studies, since 1980. She earned a Bachelor's of Arts from the University of Minnesota in 1970, a Master's of Arts in communication arts from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1971, and a Ph.D. in speech communication from Minnesota in 1980.
In fall 2009, the Chancellor and the Board of Trustees of The California State University (CSU) completed their third three-year performance evaluation of President Koester. The public summary stated that Dr. Koester, "continues to deliver superior performance as president of a very large urban university…. [and] is a leader among CSU presidents as well as the national higher education community."
In May 2011, President Koester announced her plans to step down as president of California State University, Northridge at the end of December 2011 and subsequently retire from the California State University.