July 24, 2024
Greetings Seawolf community,
I write today with both a community and a personal update. This morning, the CSU Board of Trustees and Chancellor Garcia announced the appointment of president emerita of Texas A&M Texarkana Emily F. Cutrer to serve as interim president of Sonoma State University. Her tenure will begin on August 1, 2024, and she will serve for approximately 12 months while the CSU Board of Trustees conducts a national search for the university’s next regularly appointed president. In making the appointment, Chancellor García has charged Dr. Cutrer with taking meaningful and specific steps during her tenure to address ongoing fiscal challenges facing the university.
The interim appointment marks a return to the CSU for Dr. Cutrer, who served as provost and vice president for academic affairs at California State University San Marcos from 2006 to 2013. Dr. Cutrer left CSU San Marcos to become president of A&M Texarkana, a role she held for more than 10 years before retiring in 2023. Under her leadership as president of TAMU-T, the university saw expansion of academic programming to meet community needs, development of student success programming, and steady increases in enrollment, persistence, and graduation rates.
I have personally known Dr. Cutrer since she joined CSU San Marcos as provost in 2006. In fact, I served on the search committee at CSUSM that brought her to that campus. She is a dedicated and conscientious leader, and the Sonoma State community will be well-served by her leadership over the next year. I will be connecting regularly with Dr. Cutrer over the coming weeks to support her transition.
As of August 1, I will resume my role as deputy vice chancellor and chief academic officer at the CSU Office of the Chancellor. I will bring back to that statewide and systemwide space a deeper appreciation and understanding of Sonoma State University and the critical role we play in the North Bay and in all of the diverse communities in our region. I commit to remaining a steadfast champion of this campus and our students, faculty, and staff.
Serving as acting president has been an immense honor and privilege. I am truly inspired and humbled by the commitment of the Sonoma State community to our students, fellow faculty and staff, and the diverse communities we serve. In the two and a half months since I stepped into this role, I have come to deeply appreciate the strengths and assets of this university, the challenges SSU has overcome, and the immense possibilities and opportunities that lie ahead. I see immense hope and promise on the horizon under Dr. Cutrer’s leadership.
Thank you for welcoming me. Thank you for continuing to move Sonoma State forward. And thank you for all you do each day to make this university the exceptional place it is.
Nathan S. Evans, Ed.D.
Acting President