Interim Vice Provost for Academic Innovation and Online Initiatives Appointment
Sent: May 4, 2021
Dear Colleagues,
I am excited to announce that Dr. Ron Rogers will be joining the Office of the Provost
as the Interim Vice Provost for Academic Innovation and Online Initiatives, effective
May 1. This new role will focus on supporting departments and colleges interested
in expanding access to SJSU through the development of online and hybrid degrees,
certificates, minors, and credentials. Expanding access to SJSU will involve focusing
our attention on the significant number of Californians with some college experience
but no degree, reconnecting with students who left SJSU without finishing their degree,
and opening our doors more widely to the adult learner community. This effort needs
a leader who can support these conversations and facilitate the creation of an organizational
structure that supports faculty and staff as they pursue the development of alternative
degree pathways.
As many of you know, Ron has been a faculty member at SJSU since 1999, having joined
the faculty after earning degrees in Psychology from UC Santa Cruz (B.A.) and Rutgers
(M.A, Ph.D.). In his time at SJSU, he has risen to the rank of full professor, and
served as Department Chair in Psychology and Associate Dean in the College of Social
Sciences. His research has focused on learning and memory, with a particularly interest
in the “cellular mechanisms of neuroplasticity.” Over the years, Ron has developed
a passion for teaching and learning and alternative pedagogical strategies. When I
first arrived, Ron demonstrated a strong interest in expanding the access mission
of SJSU to degree completion students and adult learners who might otherwise find
themselves subject to for-profit education or out-of-state institutions with much
higher price points than SJSU. His passion for creating strong student support structures
and high quality educational experiences has impressed me and many of his colleagues.
SJSU is a beacon of hope for thousands of students. It creates that beacon through
its twin missions of access and success. In the rapidly changing world of higher education,
we have to think more creatively about how to increase access to the amazingly high
quality education that is SJSU. We have to challenge the orthodoxy that online and
hybrid educational programs are of “lesser quality” and create space for a diverse
group of students who might live right around the corner but whose life experiences
does not provide them the ability to complete a degree physically on campus. I believe
we can do this while maintaining our commitment to equity and inclusion. We can, for
example, create tuition structures that keep costs down and manageable (comparable
to the costs stateside students face now). We are not here to “make money.” We are
here to educate students. Developing new access points does not replace what we already
do at SJSU. It complements it.
I look forward to generating more conversation about the opportunities we can create
for students on this campus. I am very excited that Ron has agreed to join the Office
of the Provost in this interim role. Please join me in thanking him. I know he is
excited to get started.
Sincerely,
Vin
