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Armstrong Reflects on Her Life and Career

"I have the best of all worlds," Sara Armstrong said of her decision to enter the Faculty Early Retirement Program (FERP). I am teaching again, I have time to bring myself up-to-date in my field, and I have a chance to actively participate in activities I am interested in such as the League of Women Voters."

Over the past thirty years, Armstrong has been the vice-provost for twelve years, a professor of psychology, the coordinator of Child Development, and director of Liberal Studies. She is ending her career as it began -- in the classroom -- and she is thrilled to be back. FERP is also giving her time to expand her professional activities. She has been part of two Western Association of Schools and Colleges teams in the last year, and the experience has sparked an adjustment in her ways of looking at education. "I never thought I was narrow, but now I am even less narrow than I was in my understanding of ways of approaching an educational problem."

Armstrong, who grew up in Illinois, has worked since she was fourteen years old. She decided to pursue her education as a young mother at a time when graduate schools would not accept divorced women with children. With the help of one of her professors, she was accepted at the Institute of Child Development at the University of Minnesota.

"Life has forced me to change, to live an unconventional life for a woman of my time. Despite the challenges, life has worked out well. I'm fortunate to have been propelled into choices and situations which both demanded much and gave much," said Armstrong.

Armstrong noted that many of the antiquated ideas that characterized the '50s have changed. There are many more female Ph.D.s, more single women, and more women with careers. Some of the barriers, which were impenetrable, have at least been lowered, if not come down.

Styles in management have changed. When she first began participating in committees, she was often the only woman. The valued managerial style of the time was one of intense competition, a style that she also adopted during graduate school. As her experience grew, she realized that cooperation not only was her real preference, but that it was more effective.

Armstrong is one of the few female administrators in the history of CSU, Chico. She brought her preference for cooperation to her role as vice provost. She created monthly meetings for chairs where there had been only two events: a fall retreat and a spring luncheon. She saw that chairs needed to talk to each other, to find out what was going on in other departments, and to talk more to administrators. She also helped develop a workshop for new chairs.

As vice provost, Armstrong worked on the revision of the general education program, a process she described as "arduous and difficult." Many people were initially reluctant to make change, especially those who had been involved in earlier general education program decisions. In the end, Armstrong said, "We got it changed, and I think by doing that, it paved the way for future changes."

Her earlier experience as the child development coordinator gave her a taste of working across colleges and departments, and this semester she'll be filling in for Child Development Program Director Sandra Machida.

The child development program, the first interdisciplinary program at Chico State, grew out of a commitment by individual faculty from three colleges and several departments. As a result of the first five-year review, the program began an increased emphasis on the school-aged child and the adolescent. Armstrong said, "We revised the whole program as a result of that. Then, five years later, we had a chance to test the success and make revisions. The program has continued to keep up with and anticipate the needs of students and the demands of the state."

The program also gave increased attention to career opportunities for students interested in working with young children. "Years ago we knew that, eventually, the demand for people qualified to take care of and to teach young children would grow. Now, we're beginning to see that growth," Armstrong said.

Armstrong first came to Chico in 1968, having accepted a job as an assistant professor at Chico State sight unseen. As a Midwesterner, she had imagined California as all coastline and ocean, until she drove up Hwy. 99 in August. Her first view of Chico was driving up Park Avenue. She assumed it would be elegant because of the name. It was a discouraging beginning.

She decided she only needed to stay a year. But the color of the pistachio trees in fall made her reconsider, and spring along the Vallombrosa side of Bidwell Park sealed it, "There were climbing roses over the fence and blue lupine, and I remember just catching my breath with the beauty of it." She's been in Chico almost thirty-two years.

As Armstrong reflected on her career, she spoke of how much she values the people part of her career. "I wish I could talk to each person who has added to my life and to my career," she said. "Maybe this is my chance. The faculty, the staff, the students, the people of Chico -- they have been a wonderful, wonderful part of my life." -- BA/KM