Academic Affairs Additional Personnel Updates
Rita Gallardo-Good Retires
After 35 years of public service and holding leadership positions at various organizations in California, including Sacramento State, state agencies, the California State Senate, and local government agencies in Southern California, Rita Gallardo-Good is retiring, effective August 30, 2024.
Rita joined Sacramento State in 2020 as Director of Civic Affairs for Public Affairs and Advocacy. She has a long history of community service and engagement in Sacramento. She represents Sac State as second vice president on the Board of Directors of the Sacramento Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. She was appointed by Mayor Darrell Steinberg to serve as a commissioner for Sacramento’s Parks and Community Enrichment Commission and the Stadium Area Public Financing Authority. Rita is a Chicano Latino Youth Leadership Project board member. Before coming to Sac State, Rita was assistant director of Employer Relations at the California Teachers’ Retirement System and chief of stakeholder relations at the California Public Employees Retirement System. She has experience as a legislative consultant for then-state Senator Alex Padilla.
In April 2023, Rita was appointed Senior Associate Vice President for Public Affairs and Advocacy. In December 2023, Rita was appointed Senior Associate Vice President for Community Relations & Campus Engagement, overseeing community relations, Sac State Downtown, Anchor University and the Community Engagement Center.
Please join me in thanking Rita for her many years of service to the greater Sacramento area and Sac State and wishing her well for an enjoyable and well-deserved retirement with her husband Ross.
Dr. Jenni Murphy will assume oversight for Anchor Institution and Sac State Downtown as well as return to her position as Dean of the College of Continuing Education and undertake other Presidential initiatives effective July 15, 2024. Some of these initiatives include cultivating relationships with community colleges and other educational institutions to establish collaborative partnerships; negotiating and securing MOUs to facilitate seamless transfer pathways for students and promote academic collaboration, such as secure MOUs to offer online classes and microsite programs for community colleges; working with key partners, community colleges, and other educational institutions to create structured pathways for priority admissions to programs such as the Black Honors College which likely includes articulation agreements with feeder schools, specialized outreach efforts, evaluation of admissions data to assess the effectiveness of initiatives that inform continuous improvement.
Please join me in thanking Dr. Pam Wimbush, associate dean for the College of Continuing Education, who served as interim dean while Jenni served as interim Vice President for Student Affairs and Special Assistant to the President. Pam has over 20 years of experience working in higher education, including positions at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Northern Virginia Community College, Johns Hopkins University, Hampton University, and the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Pam has been a valuable member of the dean’s leadership team with primary responsibilities for the college’s program support units (Enrollment and Marketing Services, Digital Learning and Technology Solutions, and Evaluations and Effectiveness, Compliance, People and Culture, Facilities, and Finance). She oversaw the growth and sustainability of institutional programs such as Summer Session and Winter Intersession. Dr. Wimbush holds a bachelor’s degree in Computer Studies, master’s degrees in Distance Education, and Management, and a doctorate in Educational Administration from the University of Wyoming.
Ben Fell Appointed Acting Associate Dean, College of Health and Human Services
With the appointment of Dr. Greg Shaw as Interim Dean of the College of Education, I am pleased to announce that Dr. Ben Fell has been appointed Acting Associate Dean of the College of Health and Human Services.
Dr. Fell joined Sacramento State in 2008 as an assistant professor in the Department of Civil Engineering with primary areas of teaching and research expertise in structural and earthquake engineering. In 2013, he was recognized with the President’s Award for Research and Creative Activity for his contributions to improve the seismic resilience of residential structures. From 2015-2021, he served as the department chair of civil engineering, leading the department in student success initiatives, fundraising, curriculum changes, and laboratory improvements. A strong proponent of shared governance, he chaired the Faculty Senate’s Curriculum Policies Committee and served on the Faculty Senate Executive Committee from 2014 to 2016, overlapping with service as chair of the Academic Council in the College of Engineering and Computer Science during the development of the college’s five-year strategic plan.
In 2021, he moved to the College of Continuing Education to lead the Academic Programs Unit as Interim Director and was appointed as Director of Academic and Professional Programs later that year. In 2022, he began serving as the interim Associate Dean of Academic and Professional Programs in CCE, leading a team of 25 staff and administrators on self-support programs in partnership with each of the degree-granting colleges at the university. His portfolio of programs included Summer Session and Winter Intersession, seven undergraduate and eight graduate degrees across multiple colleges, Summer Youth Academies, EMT and Paramedic programs, and multiple certificate programs focused on career advancement. He was integral in unifying multiple teams across the college into a single cohesive group responsible for directly working with, and advocating for, learners’ needs as they pursued a wide variety of educational opportunities offered by the university.
Carlos Nevarez
Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs (Interim)
