Kathleen McConnell

The Office of the Provost and the Academic Senate are pleased to announce that Kathleen McConnell, associate professor of Communication Studies, has been appointed as the new chair of the Accreditation Review Committee. The Accreditation Review Committee is a special agency of the Academic Senate charged with leading the campus in preparation for its accreditation review in accordance with the most current WSCUC guidelines (formerly called WASC). Kathleen will lead the university community through development of our Special Visit report this spring and our visit with the WSCUC team September 27-28, 2017.

Kathleen has a strong record of university service having served on the Curriculum and Research Committee, the Board of General Studies and the Writing Requirements Committee. She represented SJSU as a team member at the AAC&U Institute for General Education and Assessment and at the CSU Institute of Teaching and Learning symposium on Assessing General Education. She developed the COMM 100W assessment plan and is currently serving on the Writing/Information Literacy Core Competencies Task Force. She is active in the Western States Communication Association and the National Communication Association.

Kathleen came to SJSU from Indiana University in 2009. She teaches in the areas of communication theory, rhetorical criticism, writing and gender studies. Her scholarship explores the relationship between universities and invention. She has written on topics such as academic professionalism, race and equity in education, and impacts of educational reform. In addition to her appointment in Communication Studies, she serves as a faculty member in the Ed.D. Program in Educational Leadership.

Kathleen will replace former accreditation chair Camille Johnson, who has recently joined the Office of the Provost as the chief operations manager. Cami led SJSU through the last accreditation cycle with energy, enthusiasm and professionalism. We would like to thank Cami for her important contributions to SJSU.