What an exciting time it is at San José State!  Many of you have heard me say that in various meetings and events on campus, but my enthusiasm for what we have managed to accomplish is a constant sentiment for me. I hope it is for you as well.

My fundamental enjoyment is watching the Division of Academic Affairs as it re-visits its focus on the intellectual matters central to our role at the university. The faculty embrace of our RSCA Initiative has been enthusiastic and deep; our efforts to solidify approaches for our graduate students and our post-baccalaureate opportunities are coming to fruition; and the soundness with which we came through the various federal budget machinations and held true to our research needs (a shout-out to our Research Foundation!), is simply impressive.

I am delighted also that we have now consolidated many faculty development activities in the Office of the Provost, singularly, the Senior Vice Provost forAcademic Affairs, our own Carl Kemnitz.  Dr. Kemnitz played an integral role with University Personnel as we moved to tease apart functions that rightly belong in a central university human resource function from those which support and promote the lives of our teacher-scholars.  Here again, I have enjoyed immensely watching the commitment both Academic Affairs and University Personnel have made to elicit best processes and practices to support our human needs.

And then there is our COACHE (The Collaborative on Academic Careers in Higher Education) Survey! Many of you have given generously of your energy to complete this Harvard-based national survey so that we may capture the essence of faculty satisfaction and frustration. We take very seriously our participation, and will use the results to continue our work on developing structures that support our core mission of providing the very best education and experience possible for our students, through our faculty.  So thank you in advance, for your participation, and your subsequent work to address the results and suggestions we elicit. It has long been time for an institution as significant as SJSU to be in this kind of comparative mix with other high-performing universities. Of course, there’s more. But this sense of excitement I mentioned above has roots in real and concrete efforts all directed toward the refinements any forward-looking university embraces. Sometimes, I daresay it’s all anxiety provoking, but to quote a very dear 92 year old friend—“change is good!”