Dr. Terri Gomez Appointed as Interim Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs

Dear Faculty and Staff,

I write to share the news that Dr. Terri Gomez, has been appointed to the role of Interim Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs, effective today, October 2. 

Dr. Gomez has been a member of the Cal Poly Pomona community for 24 years, starting first as a lecturer and rising to the rank of Full Professor in the Department of Ethnic and Women’s Studies. She has served in a range of administrative roles including Department Chair and Interim Associate Dean in the College of Education and Integrative Studies, as well as Interim Associate Vice President before being appointed in 2018 as the inaugural Associate Vice President for Student Success. In 2020 she was named Associate Provost for Student Success, Equity and Innovation with an expanded portfolio that includes Academic Advising, the Bronco Advising Center, Undeclared Advising, Early Start, Learning Resource Center, First-Year Experience, Common Read, PolyTransfer, STEM Success, Academic Innovation, Student Innovation Ideas lab, Kellogg Honors College, Center for Community Service Learning, Office of Undergraduate Research and the TRiO-funded Reading and Mentoring Program (RAMP). 

The Office of Student Success, Equity and Innovation manages $25M in grants to Cal Poly Pomona, $11M of which includes a Department of Education Title V HSI grant to support Project CAMINOS, and a recently-funded Los Angeles Regional K-12 collaborative grant with local community colleges and school districts, for which Dr. Gomez serves at the principal investigator for both. 

Dr. Gomez is a nationally recognized leader for her work on student success and developing innovative programs to address the needs of diverse student populations. In 2016, Dr. Gomez was responsible for the launch of the Office of Student Success at Cal Poly Pomona to focus our campus efforts as part of the CSU Graduation Initiative 2025. By developing a range of campus partnerships, support programs and academic interventions, she has led advances in student retention, persistence and graduation with the ultimate goal of eliminating equity gaps for our most vulnerable students. I have every confidence that her deep commitment to student success and her student-centered ethos will inform her leadership as Interim Provost. 

Dr. Jennifer Brown has been appointed to the faculty as Professor in the Department of Plant Sciences in the Don B. Huntley College of Agriculture and will commence classroom instruction in Fall 2024. I know you join me in thanking Dr. Brown for her contributions and service to Cal Poly Pomona and wishing her well as she returns to the classroom and her scholarly interests.   

I understand that shifts in leadership can be unsettling, and I want to assure you that I am working closely with Dr. Gomez, the Deans of the Colleges, as well as the leadership across Academic Affairs to provide stability and direction during this transition. I appreciate your support for and engagement with Dr. Gomez as she assumes the role of Interim Provost. I will share updates on plans for launching a search for the permanent incumbent later in the fall semester. 

Sincerely,

Soraya M. Coley, Ph.D.
President