MEDIA RELEASE
Cal State Fullerton’s Sylvia Alva to Join CSUN as
New Dean of College of Health and Human Development
(NORTHRIDGE, Calif., May 20, 2008) — Sylvia Alva, associate vice president for undergraduate programs at Cal State Fullerton, will join the Cal State Northridge campus community this summer as the new dean of its College of Health and Human Development.
Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Harry Hellenbrand, who announced the appointment, said the incoming dean has extensive experience in academic administration and an impressive history of collaborations aimed at student success.
"We welcome to our campus this outstanding administrator, and we look forward to working with her," said Provost Hellenbrand.
"The College of Health and Human Development offers a rich array of quality academic programs that help people and communities thrive and play an important role in California’s future," said Alva, honored in 2001 as an Outstanding Member of the Academic Community at Fullerton. "The opportunity to serve as its dean is truly an honor."
Prior to her current post at Fullerton, Alva served for three years as assistant vice president for academic programs. Her activities included academic program planning and development of undergraduate degree programs and courses, and oversight of the campus’ general education program.
Alva was a steering committee member and task force liaison of Fullerton’s Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) reaccreditation effort, and provided guidance and leadership to a number of academic departments.
A professor of child and adolescent development at Fullerton, the incoming dean also has served as director of its Academic Advisement Center, founding director of its Freshman Programs, and chair of its Child and Adolescent Studies Department.
Since 2004, she has been an at-large member of the Cal State Fullerton Academic Senate.
Alva earned her bachelor’s degree at Cal State Los Angeles and both her master’s degree and doctorate at UCLA, all in psychology. She has published widely, authoring or co-authoring articles in the Journal of Adolescent Research, the Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences and the Teacher Education Quarterly, among others.