About the Office of Academic Affairs

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Walt Jacobs was appointed as Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs at California State University East Bay on July 1, 2022. Prior to this appointment, he was a university dean for nine years: seven as the Dean of the College of Social Sciences at San José State University (2015-2022), and two as the Founding Dean of the College of Social Sciences & Professional Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside (2013-2015). Prior to joining UW-Parkside, he was on the faculty of the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities for fourteen years, including five years as the Chair of the Department of African American & African Studies (2007-2012). He received his B.S. degree in electrical engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology (1990), and his M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in sociology from Indiana University-Bloomington (1995, 1999). He has received department, college, and university awards for undergraduate teaching.

Jacobs is the author of Speaking the Lower Frequencies: Students and Media Literacy (State University of New York Press, 2005), is co-editor (with Jeffrey Di Leo) of If Classrooms Matter: Progressive Visions of Educational Environments (Routledge, 2004), and the author of Ghostbox: A Memoir (iUniverse, 2007). He has published 29 journal articles and book chapters and co-edited a special issue of the journal Symploke. He recently co-edited the book Sparked: George Floyd, Racism, and the Progressive Illusion (Minnesota Historical Society Press, 2021) with two San José State University assistant professors, and edited the online series “Wonderful/Wretched Memories of Racial Dynamics in the Twin Cities, Minnesota” (http://z.umn.edu/WWseries).

Jacobs is deeply invested in higher education leadership mentoring and coaching activities. In May 2022 he earned a certification as a Hudson life/executive coach. For six years he was on the Board of Directors for the Council of Colleges of Arts and Sciences (CCAS), a professional organization for university deans. He served as CCAS president-elect during the 2021-2022 academic year and was scheduled to serve as president in 2022-2023 before leaving the board to become a provost. During the 2016-2017 academic year he co-directed the San José State University Deans’ Leadership Academy, in which faculty explore leadership opportunities, informal as well as formal.

From 2013 to 2019 Jacobs maintained a blog about leading a social science college (http://thesocietypages.org/newdean/). He occasionally tweets as @wrjacobs.

Jacobs is a fan of college women’s basketball and college men’s football. Another of his non-academic passions is science fiction movies and television. He has hosted informal discussions of The X‑Files, and currently encourages everyone he meets to watch The Expanse.

Jacobs’ CliftonStrengths talent themes: Strategic | Maximizer | Achiever | Relator | Learner. 

 

Office of Academic Affairs Staff

Walt Jacobs 
Provost and Vice President
510-885-3711
walt.jacobs@csueastbay.edu

Silvina Ituarte 
Associate Provost for Faculty Affairs 
510-885-3711
silvina.ituarte@csueastbay.edu

Rafael Hernandez
Associate Provost for Academic Resources & Planning
510-885-3711
rafael.hernandez@csueastbay.edu

Lisa Thomas
Office Coordinator
510-885-3712
lisa.thomas@csueastbay.edu

Karen Ling
Faculty Immigration Advisor/Recruitment Specialist
510-885-4275
karen.ling@csueastbay.edu

Sophie Bloch 
Faculty Affairs Executive Assistant 
510-885-4643
sophie.rollins@csueastbay.edu

Kelley Ramos 
Assistant to Associate Provost for Faculty Affairs  
510-885-4453
kelley.ramos@csueastbay.edu


Colleges and Departments

College of Letters, Arts and Social Sciences
Wendy Ng, Dean

College of Business and Economics
Gangaram Singh, Dean 

College of Education and Allied Studies
Robert Williams, Dean

College of Science
Jason Singley, Dean

Academic Programs & Services
Maureen Scharberg, Dean

University Libraries
John Wenzler, Dean of Libraries

Concord Campus
Robert Phelps, Executive Director Concord Campus


Institute for STEM Education and Director of Gateways East Bay STEM Network
Bruce Simon, Executive Director of the Stem Institute

Research & Sponsored Programs
Chandra Khan, Associate Vice President, Research and Sponsored Programs

Institutional Effectiveness & Research 
Fanny Yeung, Associate Vice President 


Academic Advising & Career Education
Kathryn Palmieri, Executive Director

Academic Senate
Sarah Nielsen, Senate Chair

Center for International Education
Kelly Moran, Director

C.E. Smith Museum
Alberto Gonzalez, Director

Faculty Development
Keri O'Neal, Director

Grade Appeal & Academic Grievance Committee
Erica Wildy, Presidential Appointee

General Education Program
Caron Inouye, Director of General Education/Chair of General Studies

Online Campus 
Roger Wen, Senior Director

Student Center for Academic Achievement 
Rachel Brunson, Director

University Art Gallery
Carolina Gainey-Vejar, Curator/Gallery Manager

Continuing Education
Brian Cook, Associate Vice President