As the 2020 Fall semester begins, students, faculty, and staff at Sonoma State University adjust to a completely different school experience. To the community at SSU, this may be a scary and uncomfortable experience because so much is unknown. Some students are even questioning whether returning to SSU is worth the money with all these changes. 

Dean of Arts and Humanities, Hollis Robbins, assures the SSU Community that new leadership is not something that should be feared. “I am thrilled about my four new Dean colleagues who are bringing the perspective of other schools and fresh new ways of doing things to Sonoma State. I think it is important that institutions balance traditions with change. We do many things really well at Sonoma State but we could do some things better, such as recruiting students. Two of our new Deans, Laura Alamillo and JF Coget, are from schools that are terrific at recruiting students. We will learn a lot from them.” 

The four new Deans come prepared and experienced in developing strong academic communities within the CSU system. SSU’s new Dean of Science and Technology, Elizabeth Wade, comes from Mills College in Oakland with twenty years of teaching Chemistry under her belt. The Dean of Social Science, Troi Carelston, is coming from San Francisco State University. She was the Associate Dean of College Liberal and Creative Arts for over 20 years at San Francisco State University. Dean of Education, Laura Alamillo, served at Fresno State for 16 years in many different faculty positions, and as the Associate Dean and Interim Dean. 

Some on campus may already be familiar with Robert Eyler, who is a professor of Economics at SSU as well as the Dean of Extended and International Education. He has now taken a new position at SSU as the Interim Dean of Communications.  

Eyeler assures students that there will be “no big changes for this year. The plan is to make sure we provide good information about where SSU is headed and help students as much as possible.” Collectively, the Deans are working together on the same mission–to help students and faculty to fulfill any needs or concerns as the semester progresses. 

 The Deans are also working their hardest to make the transition for students and faculty smooth, while preparing for any bumps in the road that may come along with creating a virtual community at SSU. 

The Dean of Students, Ryan Henne, comments on this upcoming school year with reassuring words for students. “The University’s priority is to first do everything within its power to provide a safe environment for learning. While some of the frills may be muted presently, I believe that students will be able to have a contemporary Seawolf experience whether their learning is taking place virtually or in person. Club fairs, academic advising, fraternity and sorority recruitment, and Health and Wellness fairs are all going to happen this semester, but it will just be that the delivery method will be a little different. I think the world is exploring how to make a virtual community. I am confident that SSU will be doing it right.” 

 With Sonoma State transitioning to a virtual community, faculty and staff will attempt to provide students with the similar educational and college experience that they would receive in person. Dean of Education, Laura Alamillo, believes that “preparing quality teachers is a justice issue. Our children deserve the best teachers and we are preparing the very best at Sonoma State.”

Many Sonoma State students are deserving of a passionate and in-depth education from professors and mentors, regardless if it takes place online. New leadership may be uncomfortable considering the time of change that we already find ourselves in, but SSU faculty, staff, and administration have experience and are confident in their ability to work together as one well-oiled machine.