To: OSU faculty and staff
From: Edward Feser, Provost and Executive Vice President
26 February 2021
Dear Oregon State Colleagues:
I am writing to inform you that Dr. Susan Capalbo plans to return to her role as Professor of Applied Economics in June, after completing a five-year term of service as Senior Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs.
Susan’s accomplishments in her tenure as Senior Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs are many and significant. She oversaw the writing of Vision 2030, the creation of the University’s current strategic plan (SP4.0), and the establishment of a systematic approach to implementing the plan and monitoring progress. She led the University’s year seven accreditation self-study effort and managed the site visit that yielded one of the strongest reaccreditation reviews in OSU’s history. She served as the senior member of the team that developed the inaugural faculty union collective bargaining agreement between the United Academics of Oregon State University (UAOSU) and university administration. She also implemented the Provost’s Fellows program; provided key leadership over the University’s internationalization agenda (serving as Senior International Officer on two occasions); collaborated closely with the Office of Human Resources on the Talent Management Initiative; and retooled and expanded OSU’s leadership development programs.
She did all this while also overseeing the University’s efforts to attract and retain an outstanding and diverse faculty; supervising the promotion and tenure process; stewarding revisions to the University’s policies and programs; managing OSU’s diverse faculty and dual career hiring initiatives; overseeing the University Libraries; and advising unit leaders at all levels on a host of day-to-day personnel and other management matters.
In addition, as Senior Vice Provost, Susan has been my day-to-day thought partner since I joined OSU four years ago, and I have greatly appreciated her broad knowledge of OSU and her wise counsel. Her deeply caring approach to her work and her bedrock commitment to the success of the faculty and academic excellence have served Oregon State extraordinarily well. She has my sincerest thanks for her partnership and my utmost respect for her steadfast adherence to OSU’s core values.
Prior to joining Faculty Affairs, Susan served as Head of the Department of Applied Economics in the College of Agricultural Sciences. She is looking forward to taking some time this summer to enjoy the outdoors and then she will return to pursuing her scholarship and teaching in the department. I am grateful that she will continue as part of the OSU family and wish her the very best in this next phase of her career.
It is my intention to fill the Faculty Affairs position by the end of June, with a somewhat revised set of responsibilities. With Susan’s help, I have undertaken a review of the portfolios of the administrative units that report to the Office of the Provost and plan to make several adjustments that will better them to advance the strategic mission and goals of the institution. I will share those changes with you soon. In the meantime, please join me in thanking Susan for her many contributions as Senior Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs.
Edward Feser
Provost and Executive Vice President