Sociology Professor Named to Lead

Sociology professor John W. Bedell took to his new position as chair of Cal State Fullerton’s Academic Senate with aplomb — after all, this is his fourth time in the role.

Elected today, Bedell — who had been serving as vice chair — will serve a one-year term as leader of the university’s faculty advisory body.

“Budget issues are driving much of our discussions, and we risk losing sight of academic program and quality issues,” said the educator, who chaired the Senate in 1976-77, 1988-89 and 1989-90. “California has a postsecondary education system providing access to any and all who are interested. This access is clearly jeopardized and will be so in the near future.

“Recruiting a quality faculty in this high-cost region is difficult, and we are losing junior faculty to less expensive regions,” added Bedell, who currently chairs the Sociology Department. “We continue to worry about our students’ writing and computational skills, and we need to work closely with our K-12 colleagues to ease the transition to university study.”

The Fullerton resident has been a member of the university faculty since 1969 and has served in numerous capacities in addition to Senate chair. In his early days on campus, Bedell served five years as department chair; he also coordinated the Child Development Program and directed the Faculty Development Program for two years each. From 1982-84, Bedell was head of the California State University Academic Senate, followed by two years as acting associate vice chancellor for the CSU.

More recently on campus, Bedell was acting associate vice president of academic affairs from 1990-93 and acting director of the Faculty Development Center in 2001-02.

Active in the community, he is one of five members of the Orange County Board of Education, representing Fullerton, La Habra and La Habra Heights, Buena Park, Placentia and parts of both Brea and Anaheim. He also is vice president of the Fullerton Civic Light Opera Board of Directors.

Previously, Bedell was vice president of the Orange County School Boards Association and also served on the board of the Women’s Transitional Living Center and Fullerton’s former Human Relations and Youth commissions in the early 1990s.

Joining Bedell on the 2004-05 Academic Senate Executive Committee are: Jane Hall of Laguna Beach, professor of economics, vice-chair; Ellen Junn of Anaheim Hills, associate dean of the College of Human Development and Community Service and associate professor of child and adolescent studies, secretary; and Robert A. Emry of Yorba Linda, emeritus professor of human communication studies, treasurer.

Members-at-large serving on the committee are: Fullerton residents William D. Meyer, professor of theatre and dance, and C. Jesse Jones, professor of kinesiology and health science; and Joanne Gass of Huntington Beach, professor of English, comparative literature and linguistics.

As a statewide academic senator, Diana Guerin of Fullerton, professor of child and adolescent studies, also serves on the executive committee. She is one of three campus members who serve on the CSU Academic Senate. The others are J. Vincent Buck of Fullerton, professor of political science, and Barry Pasternack of Santa Ana, chair and professor of information systems and decision sciences.

Photo: A high-resolution image of Bedell can be downloaded from the university’s website at www.fullerton.edu/newsphotos/

Media Contact: Pamela McLaren of Public Affairs at 657-278-4852 or pmclaren@fullerton.edu