Academic Affairs Leadership Transitions

June 13, 2024

Change is an inherent part of life and organizations. It can be gradual or sudden, planned or unexpected. Whether it’s personal growth, societal shifts, or organizational transformations, change shapes our world. Embracing change requires adaptability, resilience, and a willingness to learn. Sacramento State, and Academic Affairs, in particular, are not immune from change, as you will soon learn from reading on...

Dean Sheree Meyer to Retire

After 33 years at Sacramento State, Dr. Sheree Meyer, Dean, College of Arts and Letters, will retire as of August 20, 2024.

Dean Meyer has been Dean of the College of Arts and Letters since 2016. Under Sheree’s leadership, there have been four new Bachelor of Fine Arts degrees created in Studio Art, Photography, Graphic Design and Interior Architecture; a new certificate in Arts and Letters Entrepreneurship; a new B.A. in Design Studies; and a new Master of Fine Arts in Studio Art. Dean Meyer collaborated in the establishment of a downtown center, further developed U-Nite at the Crocker, and participated in the campus’s mural projects. She successfully pursued fundraising efforts such as the “Take Your Seat” campaign to further support improvements in seating and equipment for the University Theatre, Capistrano Concert Hall and Kadema Hall renovations. The new Art Building had its groundbreaking in June 2023. During her tenure as dean, she helped implement student success programs such as the college’s Four-Year Promise, Jump Start, Student Success Center (SAGE), and an Arts & Letters Completion Degree. Dr. Meyer and her husband, David, look forward to continuing their support of Arts & Letters students through the David and Sheree Meyer endowed scholarship.

Prior to being Dean of Arts and Letters, Dr. Meyer was Dean of Undergraduate Studies from 2014-2016, and Associate Dean of Undergraduate Studies from 2010-2014. Dr. Meyer chaired the English Department from 2004-2010 during which she established the university’s One Book program. As a faculty member, she also taught in and later coordinated the university’s First Year Learning Communities Program and in collaboration with the Division of Student Affairs started the Peer Mentor Program.

Please join me in thanking Dean Meyer for her tremendous leadership and contributions to the campus as she enjoys her well-deserved retirement. Congratulations and best wishes to Sheree and her husband, David.

Dr. Christina Bellon, Associate Dean for Budget and Operations has been appointed Interim Dean for the College of Arts and Letters. Her appointment will be effective August 19, 2024. Dr. Bellon has been the Associate Dean for Budget and Operations since 2016. She oversees the college’s instructional and operational budgets, assessment and accreditation processes, enrolment management, academic resources management, and personnel processes.

As Associate Dean, Dr. Bellon has been instrumental in developing and ensuring funding for the College’s several grant programs, including the faculty travel grant program, faculty and staff professional development programs, the scholarly and creative activity grant, and the curriculum and program revision grant. Most recently, the college has been able to support probationary faculty with summer stipends to innovate and invigorate their scholarly and creative activity. As Associate Dean, Dr. Bellon worked collaboratively with department chairs, to rethink summer and winter intersession course offerings to align with student success needs and to improve self-support operations in order to generate additional cost-sharing resources which have supported department and program projects, as well as the college’s growing academic technological footprint and more specialized faculty and program technology needs.

Before this leap into administration, Dr. Bellon served as Chair of Philosophy where she secured several multi-year grants to fund redesigns to core curriculum, utilization of academic technology, improvements to accessibility and DFW rates, and better align with institutional learning objectives.

As professor in Philosophy, she founded the Center for Practical and Professional Ethics, and greatly enjoyed mentoring students and teaching the range of ethics, political, and legal philosophy courses for majors and general education students. Throughout her career as a faculty member at Sacramento State, Dr. Bellon has been active in the California Faculty Association.

Interim Associate Vice President Mariappan “Jawa” Jawaharlal to retire

Dr. Mariappan “Jawa” Jawaharlal, interim Associate Vice President of the Office of Research, Innovation and Economic Development (ORIED), is retiring in July 2024. Jawa stepped in to the position in July 2023. While his stint in leading ORIED has been brief, it has been impactful. Jawa administered the Presidential Initiative, a $1 million Research Enhanced Support Grant, to successfully promote scholarship. He also has created awareness about Sacramento State achieving R2 status, conducting town hall-type meetings and roadshows with the various stakeholders, including the President's Cabinet, chairs, directors, the Faculty Senate, and staff. He revamped the Student Research Center resulting in the 2023 Fall Annual Student Poster Forum having had the highest number of participants ever. Jawa hosted a reception for primary investigators and reintroduced Protective Writing Time to stimulate creative writing. He is currently working with the Greater Sacramento Economic Council (GSEC) for the U.S. Economic Development Administration (a bureau within the Department of Commerce) on a proposal to build the Sacramento ZEV Innovation Hub.

Prior to leading ORIED, he served as Associate Dean of the College of Engineering & Computer Science. He has thirty years of experience as an academic administrator; professor of engineering; community organizer; industry professional; and pioneering entrepreneur. Dr. Jawa has published more than fifty papers on a variety of engineering topics, including biomimicry, design, and pedagogy. He has secured more than $10 million (as Pi/Co-Pi), including funding from public agencies such as the National Science Foundation and the Department of Commerce, and private foundations such as Motorola and Time Warner. He has developed a public voice in education as a columnist for The Huffington Post and Inside Higher Ed, writing on topics pertinent to K-12 and higher education.

Dr. Jawa is a recipient of the California State University System’s highest honor, the Wang Family Excellence Outstanding Faculty Award. Other awards he has earned include California State Polytechnic University’s Provost’s Award, the Northrop Grumman Award for Excellence in Teaching, and the ASEE Pacific Southwest Award. His TEDx talk, ″Becoming a Better Teacher″ has been ranked among the top five talks featuring inspiring educators.

His contributions to research and leadership in forging opportunities for young women and underrepresented communities in STEM have marked him as an exemplary educator and conscientious community member. Dr. Jawa co-founded the Femineer Program, a White House-recognized initiative that reaches 2,000+ Hispanic middle and high-school female students across 124 schools. At Sac State, Dr. Jawa founded Tech Art Program, a K-12 outreach program designed to inspire and empower underrepresented minority students and build a pipeline of Black middle/high school students into Sacramento State’s engineering program. He is a hands-on, engaging educator who focuses on building partnerships with industry and the local community.

Dr. Lisa Hammersley, Dean, College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, has graciously agreed to step in on an interim basis, as Associate Vice President for the Office of Research, Innovation and Economic Development, effective July 1, 2024.

Dr. Lisa Hammersley received her Ph.D. in Geology from the University of California, Berkeley in 2003 before joining Sacramento State as Assistant Professor of Geology. She was appointed as Associate Dean of the College of Natural Sciences & Mathematics in 2017 and has served as the Dean of the college since 2019.

Dr. Hammersley has extensive experience with proposal writing and grant management, serving as PI or CoPI on over $27,000,000 of federal and state-funded grants since joining Sacramento State. She served as Lead Project Director of the CSU Louis Stokes Alliances for Minority Participation (CSU-LSAMP) program for ten years. Jointly funded by the National Science Foundation and the CSU Chancellor’s Office, and including all 23 campuses of the CSU, CSU-LSAMP supports students from historically underrepresented groups in obtaining baccalaureate degrees in STEM and continuing on to graduate programs in STEM. As Lead Project Director, Dr. Hammersley was responsible for project coordination and planning, grant writing, annual reporting, and managing a $1.6M/year budget distributed across 23 campuses.

As Dean of the College of Natural Sciences & Mathematics, Dr. Hammersley has overseen the move into the Tschannen Science Complex, the pivot to online instruction due to COVID-19, and the return to in-person operations. During this time, the college has seen an increase in the number of external grants awarded, the addition of new state-of-the-art instrumentation, and substantial growth in philanthropic giving to support NSM students and faculty.

Associate Dean Shannon Datwyler will serve as Interim Dean during Dr. Hammersley’s absence, effective July 1, 2024. Prior to her appointment as Associate Dean for Student Success in 2019, Dr. Datwyler served as chair of the Department of Biological Sciences.

Dr. Datwyler has a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Biology from Willamette University and a Ph.D. in Evolution, Ecology and Organismal Biology from The Ohio State University. She came to Sacramento State in 2004 as an Assistant Professor of Biological Sciences after serving in a Visiting Assistant Professor role for one year at Whitman College, and two years as a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Minnesota.

Early in her career, Dr. Datwyler was a leader through a major curriculum revision in Biological Sciences with a strong emphasis on learning outcomes assessment, including service as a Faculty Assessment Consultant in the Office of Academic Program Assessment.

She served as the Chair of Biological Sciences from 2015-2019. During her tenure, the department added 10 faculty and two staff members to support the growing needs of the curriculum. She also was deeply involved in the planning and move into the Tschannen Science Complex in Fall 2019. Since 2019, she has served as Associate Dean for Student Success in the College of Natural Sciences & Mathematics, and has led efforts to streamline math and science student placements for Hornet Launch and has provided oversight to college programs around student retention and recruitment.

Dr. Chris Taylor will serve as Interim Associate Dean during Dr. Datwyler’s service as Interim Dean. Dr. Taylor has been a faculty member at Sac State for over 20 years, most recently serving as the Chair of the Department of Physics & Astronomy since January 2018. Before coming to Sac State in 2003, he earned his B.S. in Astrophysics from Michigan State University in 1988 and his Ph.D. in Astrophysics from the University of Minnesota in 1995. He conducted postdoctoral research at McMaster University in Ontario, the Ruhr-Universität Bochum in Germany and the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.

A recipient of the Outstanding Community Service Award and the Outstanding University Service Award, he served as Vice Chair of the Faculty Senate (2009 – 2011), as Co-Chair of the Instructional Programs Prioritization Task Force, and has been a member of numerous campus committees, including the University Budget Advisory Committee, the Graduation Initiative Steering Committee, the Strategic Planning Council, the Academic Affairs Strategic Planning and Budget Advisory Committee, the Senate General Education/Graduation Requirement Policy Committee, and Curriculum Policies Committee. More recently he played a key role in developing the Sacramento State Planetarium and has overseen its operation since it opened in 2019.

Interim Dean Deidre Sessoms to Retire

After 27 years at Sacramento State, Dr. Deidre Sessoms, Interim Dean, College of Education, will retire as of August 20, 2024. Prior to Interim Dean, Deidre served in the college as the Associate Dean for Curriculum and Student Success beginning in 2022, Chair of Teaching Credentials from 2019-2022, and Director of Teacher Preparation and Credentials from 2004-2010.

Deidre’s primary focus throughout her career has been student success, developing and overseeing numerous student support programs. Under her leadership, the American Sign Language Lab and Math Practices Lab were initiated this past year to support undergraduates in the college. She collaborated with Student Affairs this spring to pilot a Financial Aid Liaison position, a Student Services Professional who is hired by the college but works collaboratively with Financial Aid to serve the college’s students, especially those preparing for a career in teaching. Her direct fundraising and grant writing efforts have resulted in over $5M in scholarships being awarded to Sacramento State students over the past 16 years.

Deidre has served in numerous campus-wide leadership positions, including Interim Director of First Year Experience Programs, Director of Faculty Research Development, founding Director of the Middle Leader Academy of the CSU Student Success Network where she led ten CSU campus teams in redesigning first year mathematics to end remedial coursework, and founding Director of the Student Research Center, which has just completed its eighth year of operation. Her redesign of the campus Student Research and Creative Activity Symposium contributed to a 500% increase in student participation in one year.

Deidre’s extensive record of procuring external grants has resulted in over $8.7M, including 8 funded proposals from the National Science Foundation focused on equity and student success in STEM education. She is a recipient of the College of Education’s Outstanding Community Service Award and the Sacramento City Council Outstanding Community Service award.

Dr. Greg Shaw, Associate Dean for the College of Health and Human Services, will be Interim Dean, effective, July 1, 2024.

Dr. Shaw joined the Hornet family in 2000 as a lecturer in the Department of Recreation, Parks and Tourism Administration, becoming tenure track in 2005. His primary areas of teaching included marketing, recreation management, facility design, and wine tourism. He chaired RPTA from 2011 to 2018, leading the department through several structural changes, including elevating the CSU’s first Bachelor of Science degree in Recreation Therapy, and creating a Bachelor of Science degree in Hospitality and Tourism Management, the latter of which led Sacramento State being honored with the Supplier of the Year Award by the Sacramento Hotel Association in 2020.

Dr. Shaw became Associate Dean of the College of Health and Human Services in 2019, having served as Faculty Fellow in the HHS Deans’ Office since 2015. As Associate Dean, Dr. Shaw oversaw the College’s successful efforts to increase enrollment and unit loads through the Pandemic and beyond. Dr. Shaw served as the College’s primary contact for several initiatives that connected the College and University to the community, such as Homeless Connect in partnership with Josh’s Heart, A Long Talk in partnership with the Sacramento County Office of the Public Defender, the College’s mobile health initiative, Health Hive, and the College’s newest lab initiative, Project Future. Dr. Shaw’s leadership was instrumental in the College’s efforts to increase law enforcement agency support for the Law Enforcement Candidate Scholars (LECS) program, and to promote health clinics, such as the new Physical Therapy Community Clinic in Folsom Hall.

Dr. Shaw holds a PhD in Geography with a Graduate Minor in Landscape Architecture from the University of California, Davis. He also holds Master of Science in Recreation Administration from Sacramento State, and a Bachelor of Science in Architecture from Georgia Institute of Technology. Prior to joining Sacramento State, Dr. Shaw taught elementary school from 1990-1999 in Inglewood, CA, taking his multi-subject credential coursework at California State University, Dominguez Hills. In the area of academic leadership, he completed the American Council on Education’s Leadership Academy in 2016, the North American Association of Summer Sessions New Administrator Program in 2019, and Sacramento State’s Academic Leadership Development Program in 2011.

Dr. Shaw has held positions on advisory boards for several organizations, including Visit Sacramento, the California Geographical Society, the Journal of Tourism Insights, the California Society of Park and Recreation Educators, the CSU Hospitality and Tourism Management Education Initiative, and Sacramento State’s College of Education. Dr. Shaw is an avid wine lover, and served for several years as wine editor for Cuisine Noir Magazine.

Carlos Nevarez
Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs (Interim)

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