Congratulations to Dean Walt Jacobs

Sent: February 17, 2022

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

Dear Colleagues,

I write today with news that Walt Jacobs, the dean of the College of Social Sciences, has accepted a position as Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs at California State University, East Bay. Walt will begin his new job on July 1. On behalf of the entire division, I want to extend Walt congratulations on his new role! I look forward to working with Walt on the system’s council of provosts starting next summer.  

Walt’s tenure at SJSU began in July of 2015, when he moved from the University of Wisconsin-Parkside to San José. In his nearly seven year tenure, Walt has been able to implement a number of important initiatives. For example, he has helped establish the College of Social Science’s first endowed professorship, while also investing in the staff in the college advising center, developing an additional full-time associate dean to support faculty success and research, complementing the work of an associate dean for academic programs and student success, and working with faculty to establish the Ethnic Studies Collaborative, among many other initiatives. Walt has also served the last two years as the Special Assistant to the Provost for Racial Equity Initiatives, contributing to an important conversation not just in Academic Affairs but on the campus writ large. You can see even more of Walt’s accomplishments listed out on the SJSU dean profile. 

Walt will, of course, be with us here at SJSU through the spring semester and we will be able to take advantage of his talents until he transitions to his new role. In the meantime, I will begin to collect feedback from faculty, staff, and students in the College of Social Sciences on what interim leadership might look like. We will initiate a search for a new dean in the Fall of 2022. 

At this time, please join me in thanking Dean Walt Jacobs for his work here at San José State University, and congratulating him for this great new opportunity! 

Sincerely,
Vin