Sacramento State welcomed a new face this fall to the College of Social Science and Interdisciplinary Studies. Charles W. Gossett comes to the college from Cal Poly, Pomona, where he served as chair of the department of political science.

Gossett served in a number of distinguished positions before he decided to apply for the position at Sac State.

“I was at the point of my career where I was looking for dean positions and when I saw the opportunity open at Sac State I didn’t have any hesitation to apply,” Gossett said.

Gossett has published articles, book chapters and encyclopedia entries on civil service reform, on how state and local governments deal with one another on issues related to lesbian and gay rights, and on public opinion on same-sex marriage. Gossett has also conducted research in the areas of the public sector in human resource management and state and local intergovernmental relations.

From those lists of accomplishments comes knowledge, wisdom and a diverse perspective that is welcomed in the College of SSIS, said Edward Lascher Jr., associate dean of the College of SSIS.

Buzz Fozouni, who holds the position as chair of the government department and chair of the search committee who selected Gossett, said that the search for a new dean was national and open to those inside and outside of the California State University system.

A faculty and staff committee from within the college was put together to search for a new dean. Interviews for such an important role in the college are usually all-day events in which several meetings are held with the search committee, chairs from the college and other faculty and staff of individual departments.

The College of SSIS had no immediate needs or challenges for the successor of Otis Scott, the previous dean who retired after four years in the position. The college and its search committee were looking for someone with experience at least as a department chair and an established record of a scholarly experience, Fozouni said.

“The college needed someone who had managerial skills who knows how to plan in very difficult budget times,” Lascher said. “The college also needed someone who could watch the money carefully, think about how to be more efficient in courses offered and recognize different needs of various departments.”

“The thing that’s important for students to know is being a dean is a real challenge,” Lascher said. “There are certain jobs where you have to do numbers or some where you have to listen to people and maybe counsel them. Some jobs you may have to set an overall vision or raise money. As a dean, you pretty much have to do all of the above.”

Gossett has an extensive resume which includes being a Fulbright lecturer at the University of Swaziland in Southern Africa and a Fulbright Scholar at the Centre for the study of HIV and AIDS at the University of Botswana. He was also interim chair of the political science department and director of the Master of Public Administration program at Georgia Southern University.

Hoping to find a candidate with a fresh perspective, Fozouni said, they hired Gossett with full confidence that he was the right man for the job.

“He was strongly recommended by people I knew who encouraged him to apply,” Lascher said.

Although this search was open to candidates outside the CSU system, Gossett’s previous position at Pomona was considered an advantage due to his familiarity with the budget issues currently affecting the university, Fozouni said.

Upon starting his new position, there were no challenges waiting for Gossett to tackle, such as problems between students and faculty.

“His biggest challenge is that this is one of the best-run colleges in this university,” Fozouni said. “He was not coming here on a rescue mission; his challenge really is to preserve the quality of the college and improve the overall position of the college even further than his predecessor.”

Gossett brought with him no agenda when he came to serve as dean, just open ears and an open mind. He said his strategy is to listen to the concerns of the administrators, the department chairs, the faculty and the students and try to get everybody to somehow meet in the middle over the budget issues.

“His commitment to the college is to make sure that students get the best possible education under the current circumstances of the budget crisis. Deans today are facing the decisions to cut back on programs,” Lascher said. “Deans are also faced with making decisions to not hire part-time staff they thought they were going to be able to. It’s an overall challenging time to be a dean.”

Due to the state’s budget cuts, which translates into CSU cuts and less funding for its 23 universities, colleges on campus at Sac State have each been finding ways to play the cards dealt to them.

“Even if the rooms have to be a little more crowded, even if you have to wait a semester to take that class that you really need,” Gossett said. “We’re committed that when you do get in the classroom, you’ll get the same quality education that you were getting in better times.”

Gina Cruz can be reached at [email protected].