Message from the Provost, Mary Beth Walker

Dear Colleagues,

This Provost’s Message is tough to write.  It’s addressed to “Dear Colleagues,” but in fact, I have come to think of all of you as Dear Friends.  My time at CSUN has flown by, but I leave with many wonderful memories and terrific pride in all we have accomplished together.  Above all, thank you; thank you to everyone who welcomed me and helped me learn about CSUN and helped me understand how best to move forward.

There are so many things we faculty and staff have worked together to build and achieve over the past few years, but here are some of the highlights:

• Through a university-wide approach, we developed the Road Map to the Future, holding nearly 50 listening sessions with faculty, staff, students and alumni from every corner of the university and receiving hundreds of survey responses. This was a massive and inclusive effort that surfaced six broad themes, each reflecting the university’s commitment to advancing equity, justice and inclusion.
• We hired 118 tenure-track faculty, bolstering teaching and scholarship throughout the campus.
• To ensure equitable searches and advance faculty diversity, we launched the EEO Faculty Hiring & Recruitment Plan.  A new EEO Toolkit, resources and dedicated support combine to move CSUN forward in compliance with Equal Opportunity principles.
• For the first time, CSUN exceeded the $36 million mark in external research funding. In addition, external proposals submitted also broke records, exceeding $170 million.  The high value of awards granted and proposals submitted for fiscal year 21-22 reflects the amount of research activity happening on campus.
• Most notably, we persevered to meet the needs of our students and community throughout the pandemic, pivoting to remote and hybrid operations as the situation warranted, but thankfully returning to on-campus as the norm. In-person commencement ceremonies returned to campus last Spring, with more than 11,600 students eligible to take part.  

As you can see, we have done a lot together in a few short years.  I leave the role of the Provost in good hands. I am confident that this good work will continue, and certain that the Division of Academic Affairs will enable human potential and advance the public good through the transformative power of higher education.

Sincerely,

Mary Beth Walker, Ph.D.
Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs