I am pleased to announce that Jaye Bailey, Vice President for Organizational Development and Chief of Staff for the past two years, is transitioning to a new role for the university: Vice President for Organizational Development and Strategic Initiatives.

The change in Jaye’s focus grows naturally out of the increasing and highly strategic collaborations and successful partnering we are doing at the local, regional, and national levels. It also will allow for a continued maturing of our community-university relations.

As many of you are aware, Jaye has been fulfilling several important roles since joining SJSU in 2016. In addition to her other on-campus responsibilities, in a relatively short amount of time, Jaye has been instrumental in increasing SJSU’s profile in the region and in ensuring that we have a strong and influential voice on the issues that matter to the campus and to our students. Jaye’s new role will allow her to build on these successes and enable us as a university to  increase our presence in the City of San José, Silicon Valley and beyond.

At the same time, Jaye will continue to focus on her important internal development work, particularly in areas such as University Personnel, Title IX and other strategic initiatives, while helping to connect the university to critical external partners in government, the community and industry. Coordination of our efforts will be essential to raising SJSU’s profile and influence in our region. As such, I anticipate that Jaye will continue to work closely with many of you.

Over the coming weeks as Jaye transitions to her new role, I will be launching a search for a new Chief of Staff. As we move forward during this transition, please know that Jaye, myself, or my executive assistant Zaynna Tello remain available to answer any questions that you might have.

Though I personally will miss Jaye’s daily presence, guidance, and counsel as Chief of Staff, I am delighted that her skills and strategic thinking will continue to be put to such good use!

These are exciting times for San José State University, and I am excited by the work in which we are engaged to ensure we are successful in the next phase of our development. I am grateful for Jaye’s leadership and counsel as we chart the next phase in the university’s history as an important anchor institution in our city and broader region, and appreciative of her willingness to take on these new responsibilities.

Please congratulate Jaye the next time you see her.

Sincerely,

Dr. Mary A. Papazian,

President