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San José State University is forming a new, unified division that centers service of our people at the core of its mission and strives towards institutional excellence. This will be the division of People and Culture.

Campus stakeholders and units all provided feedback over a number of years that an external consultant helped university leadership identify as key learning points and opportunities for change for a division handling employee areas of concern at this institution.

These three recommendations are foundational to this new division:

• Create an integrated and aligned organizational structure
• Develop practices that are as consistent and proactive as possible
• Make communication and engagement more effective

These recommendations stem from requests for clarity in organization from both the affected units and other stakeholders integral to the university’s shared governance: Budget Advisory Council, Academic Senate, Staff Council, University Leadership Council and others.

This new division will integrate three distinct entities, currently named: University Personnel; Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion; and Office for Title IX and Equal Opportunity. These units are currently housed in differing divisions or the Office of the President. Together they will form a new division: People and Culture.

The new division will be responsible for streamlining human resources (HR) processes; improving response times and improving the culture on campus by making people-centered programming and services more accessible and effective to all employees.

The origins of this merger began years ago through discussions with the Budget Advisory Committee and other campus stakeholders who recommended that the university streamline administrative functions. As a result of this, the president sought an external review of the traditional functions in University Personnel (UP). This external review culminated in a recommendation in 2025 to restructure several previously siloed units into one division.

Moreover, the California State University (CSU) issued guidance for all campuses to adopt consistent naming for divisions containing offices or units with oversight over key programs and compliance like Title IX.

The new division implements goals of Transformation 2030, the university’s strategic plan, and supports the institution’s progress to a full ten-year accreditation.

More importantly, the new division’s organization, expresses in concrete terms the institution’s commitment to nurturing a culture of care for and between employees.

The division will be structured into four distinct units: Employee Services; Learning, Culture and Belonging; Employee/Labor Relations; and Civil Rights – Title IX and Equal Opportunity.

 Faculty Evaluation Services and Retention, Tenure and Promotion services will move to the division of Academic Affairs with oversight provided by the Senior Vice Provost and Accreditation Liaison Officer. Evaluation Services that are moving are Temporary and Tenure Track Evaluation Support and Lecturer Evaluation Support. These will be housed in the Center for Faculty Excellence and Teaching Innovation. Faculty Employment Services will remain in the division of People and Culture as part of the Employee Services unit.

University Personnel will move out of the division of Administration and Finance and undergo some name changes for individual units. 

The Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and Office for Title IX and Equal Opportunity will move out of the Office of the President and undergo some name changes for individual units and following CSU guidance.

Some of these changes are currently under way. All changes have been communicated thoroughly with affected units and the university community in spring 2026.

All services, staff headcount and budgets will remain the same and no relocations are anticipated as part of this reorganization. For example, paycheck distribution will still occur as scheduled and personnel will remain in their reporting structure to immediate managers/supervisors. Higher level changes will occur for senior personnel pending the recruitment of the new Vice President.

Organizational changes that have already been communicated are the transition of Faculty Evaluation Services and Retention, Tenure and Promotion to the division of Academic Affairs and the relocation of staff supporting evaluation services to Academic Affairs. Evaluation Services that are moving are Temporary and Tenure Track Evaluation Support and Lecturer Evaluation Support. These will be housed in the Center for Faculty Excellence and Teaching Innovation.

Additionally, the associate vice president position for University Personnel has been eliminated.

This unit oversees the core processes and systems that support employees throughout their lifecycle at the university. This includes Talent Acquisition, Compensation and Classification, Payroll, Benefits and Leave Administration, and HR Information Systems (HRIS), including data, reporting, and systems support. The unit is focused on delivering accurate, timely, and consistent services by streamlining operations, strengthening data integrity and ensuring reliable reporting.

This unit will be responsible for ensuring the university’s programming around diversity and equity education and socialization exercises our framework for institutional excellence and holistic support to benefit all members of the university community. While this unit will take the lead on some programming, it will also coordinate with subject matter experts in key topic areas and communities of shared interest and identities. This unit will be a part of campus and university leadership discussions about reports of "Other Conduct of Concern", particularly during politically, socially or culturally-fraught situations.

This unit will retain functions inherited from its current structure of Employee Relations and Labor Relations while making clear through this broader reorganization that this will be the unit responsible for Whistleblower Complaints as well as Other Conduct of Concern.

This unit will inherit functions of the existing Office for Title IX and Equal Opportunity and integrate functions concerning Discrimination, Harassment and Retaliation; and Compliance. This unit will also handle Training and Programming in partnership with the Learning, Culture and Belonging unit to ensure training is broadly-adopted and consistent with any changes to the law. This unit is largely unchanged from its current structure, though the naming follows new CSU-issued conventions for all campuses.

Winter 2025-2026: Socialization with and key insights from constituents - mainly the affected units across several divisions. Constituents provide feedback on the proposed structure and Vice President recruitment process. Strategy and goals established by a work committee for the reorganization.

Spring 2026: broad socialization with the university community about the new division. Recruitment for Vice President opens.

April through May 2026: vice president search committee begins to narrow down select candidates and schedule interviews. Finalist interviews occur on campus in early May, before Commencement to accommodate faculty and staff input on the search committee.

June 2026: President reviews feedback from campus visits, interviews close, finalist is selected and an offer is extended. The new Vice President is announced.

July 1, 2026: The new division and its structure take effect and the new Vice President starts their term.

January to February 2026: search committee meets with constituents to gain insights on the new role.

March to April 2026: search committee receives the charge from the president defining scope and expected outcomes from the recruitment process.

April to May 2026: candidate screening, interviews, campus visits. Finalist interviews take place the first week of May.

June 2026: President reviews feedback and an offer is extended. The selected finalist is announced.

July 1, 2026: the new vice president begins their term.

Fall 2025: new division work committee finalizes structure and strategy for reorganization.

December 2025 to January 2026: stakeholder discussions and presentations regarding the new division, structure and recruitment process.

January to February 2026: broader campus socialization of the new division and ongoing feedback.

Spring to summer 2026: procedural and administrative business processes to create and set up the new division including budgeting and accounting.

July 1, 2026: new division of People and Culture formally launches.

Summer to fall 2026: ongoing operational changes within the new division.

Budgets will remain unchanged from the immediate prior fiscal year and all units’ budgets will be inherited in the new division.

The new division will retain current headcounts and staffing. There may be some reporting changes for managers and above, but, generally, all personnel will continue work processes and work locations as before. Aside from department, unit and office name changes and some management reporting, personnel organization will not be affected.

The reorganization does not necessitate any reduction in headcount or current staffing arrangements.

Aside from the recruitment for a new Vice President, the reorganization does not currently necessitate addition of personnel positions to support the transition or ongoing work of the new division as many units will continue their work and organization unchanged, prior to the reorganization.

The reorganization does not currently necessitate any change or moves of office space or space allocations for any units.

Essential employee services and supportive resources will continue to be accessed as before in the immediate term. Some name changes for departments, units and offices will take place immediately, but critical services such as payroll, benefits, employee relations and more will continue in the same manner, in the same places, and at the same scheduled times as before.