On Aug. 19, President Saúl Jiménez-Sandoval, announced the appointment of Marsha L. Baum as interim special assistant to the President for Faculty Success to support the recruitment and retention of a diverse faculty.

The interim special assistant for Faculty Success will focus on developing recommendations for strategic plans and programs to improve the campus’ efforts and opportunities to recruit and retain faculty of color, female faculty, LGBTQ faculty and first generation faculty, all of whom offer experience, knowledge and understanding that are key elements in student success at Fresno State and beyond.

In her work as associate vice president for Faculty Affairs, Baum, a former professor of Law at the University of New Mexico, has focused on facilitating faculty success. She has developed and implemented initiatives such as the transition of the tenure and promotion process to Interfolio, an online system which proved invaluable in the face of COVID; the establishment of Chairs’ School to aid chairs in their leadership roles which are essential to departmental and faculty success; the upcoming piloting of the departmental Upstander program in which faculty will be trained to provide support and intervention for colleagues; and, a program of recognition of the importance of lecturers to the campus with the Lecturer Appreciation Celebration.

In her new role, Baum will continue to draw on her experiences as a first-generation college student and first-generation law student as well as her decades of experience as a law school professor and administrator. Her specialized background will help her frame conversations and discussions about improvement of the environment for faculty at Fresno State to allow the campus to better recruit and retain faculty who offer varied perspectives and experiences to develop a rich and robust learning environment for our students.

She will begin her work as interim special assistant immediately, transitioning from her role as AVP for Faculty Affairs effective Sept. 10. Please look for communications from the interim special assistant to the President for Faculty Success as she reaches out to the campus community and various offices to collect data and to discuss possible paths forward in our goal of supporting and facilitating faculty accomplishments.