Faculty Leadership in Collegial
Governance Award Presented to Longtime Professor and Campus Leader
May 28, 2004 :: No. 269
Leon J. Gilbert, left, Sandra Sutphen and President Milton
A. Gordon
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Sandra Sutphen, acting director of the Faculty
Development Center and professor of political science, is this year’s
winner of Cal State Fullerton’s Faculty Leadership in Collegial
Governance Award.
During her 37 years on the CSUF faculty, Sutphen has
“reinvented” her career several times. Yet, the one
constant with each new assignment has been her involvement with
faculty in the areas of shared governance and peer review.
The annual award was presented May 27 by President
Milton A. Gordon before a large audience of Sutphen’s peers
in the Academic Senate Chambers.
“When people ask me what kind of concerns a
university president has, I believe it’s losing faculty members
like Sandy Sutphen,” said Gordon. “Her commitment and
dedication have set the tone for faculty. She is the kind of person
who is able to recognize that the final decision is one that has
to be made — even if she doesn’t always agree with it.”
A resident of Yorba Linda, Sutphen has been actively
involved in a variety of campus leadership roles, including those
for the Academic Senate, Women’s Studies, the Division of
Political Science and Criminal Justice, Western Association of Schools
and Colleges (WASC), CSU Channel Islands and, most recently, the
Faculty Development Center.
The Faculty Leadership in Collegial Governance Award
recognizes faculty members who have made significant contributions
to collegial governance and the mission of the California State
University.
Sutphen served as chair of the Academic Senate from
2000-02, though her involvement dates back even further. She has
served on the Senate since 1992 and was a member of the Executive
Committee for three years prior to taking on the chair position.
During her tenure as chair, she established an annual
retreat, where Academic Affairs staff work with senators to create
position papers, forming the agenda for the upcoming year. The first
year’s retreat focused on the 2000 WASC accreditation. The
second year centered on distance learning, intellectual property,
assessment, year-round operations, El Toro Campus, class scheduling
and a second language graduation requirement. Many of the position
papers resulted in concrete policy proposals that were subsequently
adopted, such as those addressing distance learning and the second
language requirement. New, more flexible course schedules were introduced,
and El Toro is now the most populous branch campus in the CSU system,
thanks to the efforts of many, including Sutphen.
Of course, her duties with the Academic Senate are
only part of the story. Sutphen was instrumental in establishing
a minor in women’s studies in 1983. She became the founding
program coordinator and also served as coordinator from 1999-2002.
In 1999, women’s studies was approved as a major, and the
program has tripled its size since. Today, Sutphen remains active
with the program, serving on the Women’s Studies Program Council,
coordinating activities with the Women’s Center and helping
with Women’s History Month. More recently, she participated
in the university’s Joint Task Force on Domestic Violence.
While Sutphen was involved in these activities, she
continued to teach. When the Criminal Justice Department merged
with Political Science in the ’90s, Sutphen helped facilitate
the dialogue that ensued between faculty members and staff.
When the university was preparing for its WASC accreditation,
Sutphen was approached to serve as director of the WASC Self Study
Team. The team explored the university’s Mission, Goals &
Strategies, and focused on program evaluation and assessment. Ultimately,
WASC bestowed a 10-year reaccreditation on the university, the maximum
term awarded.
In 1998, Sutphen volunteered to serve on an academic
advisory committee for a new CSU campus to be established in Ventura
County. That led to almost two years of service on the faculty council
for CSU Channel Islands. The group met one weekend each month to
create a framework for academic programs, a curriculum, shared governance
policies and a constitution for the Academic Senate for the new
campus.
After 35 years at CSUF (and 40 years teaching), Sutphen
was prepared to consider retirement. However, she was enticed into
accepting the position of interim director of the Faculty Development
Center. At the center, she is responsible for organizing orientation
programs and welcoming newcomers to campus, as well as working with
current faculty members to assist them with research support for
grant proposals and statistical analysis. The center also provides
training to help faculty members develop skills so they can take
advantage of new technology. Sutphen has been an active member of
the university’s Emergency Operations Center management team,
helping members of the campus develop plans in the event that an
earthquake or other disaster occurs.
“I truly believe in the premise of participatory
democracy,” she said. “During my career, I have tried
to assist faculty and staff in developing a deeper commitment to
Cal State Fullerton. I have encouraged them to become active members
of the campus community. I’m sure the next generation will
continue the tradition of collegial governance that has made Cal
State Fullerton the fine university that it is today.”
Sutphen retires this summer and plans on continuing
to serve the university in a variety of volunteer positions. She
is a newly elected member of the Friends of the Fullerton Arboretum
Board of Directors, and she has also volunteered to write a newsletter
for the Titan baseball team’s booster organization, the Diamond
Club.
Media Contacts: |
Sandra Sutphen at 657-278-3468
or ssutphen@fullerton.edu
Valerie Orleans, Public Affairs at 657-278-4540
or vorleans@fullerton.edu
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