Announcing the Permanent Vice Provost for Academic Innovation and Institutional Effectiveness
Sent: April 3, 2023
From: Vincent J. Del Casino, Jr., Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs
Dear Colleagues,
I am excited to announce that Dr. Ron Rogers will take up the permanent position of
Vice Provost for Academic Innovation and Institutional Effectiveness effective immediately.
This new role combines efforts that Ron has been leading in his interim role, as he
has helped to build and launch SJSU Online, with various aspects of our campus’ assessment
and institutional evaluation infrastructure, bringing together two diverse but overlapping
portfolio’s into one vice provost position. Ron has established himself over the last
several years as a valued campus leader and colleague and I know he is excited to
bring his creative energy to the work of this new portfolio as we continue to build
programs that reach new communities of learners and meet the requirements of our WSCUC
Accreditation, among other issues.
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.).
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 particular interest in the “cellular mechanisms
of neuroplasticity.” Over the years, Ron has developed a passion for teaching and
learning and alternative pedagogical strategies. His passion for creating strong student
support structures and high quality educational experiences has impressed me and many
of his colleagues.
As many of you know, Ron has been an Interim Vice Provost at San José State University
since May 2021, first for the office of Academic Innovation & Online Initiatives and
then, beginning in August 2022, for the office of Academic Innovation & Institutional
Effectiveness. In his initial interim role leading Academic Innovation & Online Initiatives,
Ron worked with teams across campus to implement SJSU Online with the mission to expand
higher education access and degree attainment for the adult learner community. The
special session degree completion programs offered through SJSU Online meet these
potential graduates where they are, offering flexible 100% online pathways for degree
attainment focused on the needs of the working learner, including multiple admission
cycles, 8-week academic terms, and a per-unit tuition structure that is cost effective
for the part time learner. More recently he has served as the Interim Vice Provost
for Academic Innovation & Institutional Effectiveness (AIIE), which is tasked with
managing the development of new and innovative academic programs and initiatives while
also leading the campus in creating a robust system of academic assessment and program
planning that helps the institution meet its accreditation expectations and deliver
the highest quality undergraduate and graduate programs possible.
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 accepted this permanent
position and I know he is excited to continue serving the campus and our learners.
Also, please join me in thanking the search committee, and its chair Dr. Monika Kress,
for the hard work on this search. I appreciate the time and commitment everyone put
into this process.
Sincerely,
Vin
