WASHINGTON, D.C. — Mildred García, president of California State University (CSU), Fullerton, assumed the chair of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities’ (AASCU) Board of Directors during the association’s Annual Meeting on Tuesday, Oct. 24, 2017.

Since her arrival at CSU Fullerton in 2012, the university has seen a 24 percent improvement in six-year graduation rates for first-time freshmen and a 12 percent improvement in four-year graduation rates for transfer students. The institution is number one in California and second in the nation in awarding bachelor’s degrees to Hispanics, as well as sixth in the nation in graduating students of color.

Before becoming chair-elect in 2016, García’s leadership with AASCU includes chairing the AASCU Council of State Representatives; serving on the AASCU Board of Directors; chairing the Committee on International Education; serving as a Millennium Leadership Institute mentor; and delivering the President-to-Presidents lecture in 2013, a tradition at the AASCU Annual Meeting for more than 30 years and a signal honor given by the AASCU Board of Directors to one of their colleagues.  

Dana Hoyt, president of Sam Houston State University (SHSU) in Texas, was elected chair-elect of the board; she will serve as chair in 2019. After assuming the presidency of SHSU in 2010, Hoyt has overseen the budget, institutional research and assessment, auxiliary services, investments, student financial services, payroll, accounts payable and travel, human resources, information resources, public safety and parking, physical plant, and procurement and business services. Hoyt’s leadership with AASCU includes serving on the AASCU Board of Directors since 2012 and as a member of the Committee on Policies and Purposes for three years.

The following presidents and chancellors will serve on the AASCU Board of Directors in 2018: 

Past Chair: 
Deborah F. Stanley, president, State University of New York College at Oswego

Secretary-Treasurer: 
George E. Ross, president, Central Michigan University 

Newly elected directors include:
Juliette Bell, president, University of Maryland Eastern Shore
M. Christopher Brown, II, president, Kentucky State University
Cynthia Teniente-Matson, president, Texas A&M, San Antonio
Ramon Torrecilha, president, Westfield State University (Mass.)

Those continuing their terms as members of AASCU’s board:
Denise A. Battles, president, State University of New York at Geneseo
Joseph Bertolino, president, Southern Connecticut State University
Rita Cheng, president, Northern Arizona University
Dianne F. Harrison, president, California State University, Northridge
Sandra J. Jordan, chancellor, University of South Carolina Aiken
Emile C. Netzhammer, III, chancellor, Washington State University Vancouver
Scott R. Olson, president, Winona State University, Minnesota
Nasser H. Paydar, chancellor, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis
Jack Thomas, president, Western Illinois University 
Charles L. Welch, II, president, Arkansas State University System 
Karen Whitney, interim chancellor, Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education

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AASCU is a Washington, D.C.-based higher education association of 400 public colleges, universities, and systems whose members share a learning- and teaching-centered culture, a historic commitment to underserved student populations, and a dedication to research and creativity that advances their regions’ economic progress and cultural development. These are institutions Delivering America’s Promise of Opportunities for All.