Warm greetings from the 7th floor of Butte Hall! I’m very excited to be writing my first chair’s message for our newsletter as the new chair of the Department of Political Science. To introduce myself, I earned my law degree from the University of Missouri-Columbia School of Law and my master’s and PhD degrees in Political Science from the University of Kansas. I started teaching at Chico State in fall 2005 and have been the coordinator of our legal studies program since fall 2006.
I’d like to take this opportunity to thank and congratulate our former department chair, Dr. Ryan Patten, who is now the Associate Dean of the College of Behavioral and Social Sciences. By all accounts, Dr. Patten was a wonderful department chair during his time in that position, and the entire College of Behavioral and Social Sciences benefits from his continued leadership.
As we approach spring break, please take a moment to look through our newsletter and catch up on all the great accomplishments of our students and faculty. We especially congratulate Professor Jim Jacob on his upcoming retirement at the end of the spring semester after many years at Chico State. We recently completed the recruitment process for two new tenure-track positions, and we are very excited to welcome Professors Brad Mahler and Andy Potter as our new assistant professors starting in fall 2016. Stay tuned for more information about Professors Mahler and Potter in our fall newsletter.
The Department of Political Science continues to be one of the largest on campus with a little over 1,000 students in our five undergraduate and two graduate programs, and our criminal justice major is a significant contributor to our size and diversity. During this academic year, our faculty have been busy publishing books and articles and presenting their research at professional conferences, as well as continuing their service work to the North State. Our students continue to win scholarships and awards and impress us all with their drive and accomplishments.
You can continue to stay updated about department news and events on Facebook(opens in new window). The College of Behavioral and Social Sciences has also recently joined social media, and you can stay updated about college news on both Facebook(opens in new window) and Twitter(opens in new window). I invite you to contact me(opens in new window) or the department(opens in new window) through email or Twitter(opens in new window) with news that you would like to share. We love to stay connected with our amazing alumni.