Sandra Flake Named Provost at California State University, Chico
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Dec. 11, 2006
Joe Wills
530-898-4260
Sandra Flake Named Provost at California State University, Chico
Sandra Flake, provost of the University of West Florida, has been named provost and vice president for academic affairs at California State University, Chico.
CSU, Chico President Paul Zingg made the announcement to campus today, Dec. 11. Flake will start in her new position April 2. She replaces Scott McNall, who has been CSU, Chico provost since 1994.
“Dr. Flake has an outstanding record of leadership in academic affairs,” Zingg said. “She brings us fresh perspectives and deep experience through the issues she has addressed on her campus and through the national conversations in which she has been engaged. She fits our needs and aspirations extremely well. I am confident that she will adjust to her new university community quickly and that she will prove to be as able a listener as a leader.”
“I am very excited about joining California State University, Chico, and I am looking forward to working with President Zingg at this important time in the University’s rich history,” said Flake. “The campus community has been very welcoming to me, and my husband and I are eager to explore and learn more about the region.”
Zingg announced to the campus community earlier this year that McNall will stay on as a special assistant to the president in the area of sustainability and environmental stewardship. “Knowing Scott well, I expect a smooth transition for Sandra as well as for his own continuing service to the University in the areas of sustainability,” Zingg said today. “We are very fortunate to have a wonderful new leader arriving and a dedicated university citizen staying."
The provost and vice president for academic affairs at CSU, Chico is the leading academic officer of the University. When the president is away from campus, the provost is in charge of the University, acting on the president’s behalf.
Zingg thanked a 15-member campus committee for its work in facilitating the search process. "The University should be very pleased with the work of the consultative committee in this search,” he said. “They did a terrific job in identifying several worthy candidates[,] and Sandra rose to the top.”
Flake has been provost at University of West Florida since 2004. Prior to that, she served as dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Northern Colorado from 1997 to 2004. From 1994 to 1997, she was dean of the College of Liberal Studies at the University of Wisconsin-LaCrosse.
Flake did her undergraduate work at the College of Saint Catherine in St. Paul, Minn., and earned a PhD in English at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. She was an assistant and associate professor of English at University of Minnesota from 1978 to 1988, before becoming professor of English at Wisconsin-LaCrosse.
Among her academic honors are receiving the Outstanding Contribution Award at the University of Minnesota in 1980 and 1986, and being inducted into the Golden Key, Sigma Tau Delta and Phi Kappa Phi Honor Societies. She has presented papers and published on topics including general education assessment, writing programs for non-native English speakers and opportunities for women in academia.
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