Sean Walker has been in the role of interim provost and vice president of academic affairs for only a few weeks. While his experience in the role has been short, his experience at Cal State Fullerton spans over two decades.
He earned a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from the University of Texas at Tyler and his master’s and doctorate degrees in zoology from Miami University in Ohio before starting at CSUF by landing a faculty position in 2003.
He was a professor of biological science before serving as the associate dean of the College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics. In addition, Walker served as the chair of the Academic Senate from 2013 to 2015 and was the vice chair and chair of the Department of Biological Science.
He became deputy provost in 2024, where he worked alongside former-Provost Amir Dabirian.
Walker describes how his prior experience at CSUF has helped to prepare him for the role of interim provost, reflecting on the perspectives he made assisting students and faculty through difficult situations.
“I always like to try and think about my first couple of weeks in Fullerton and trying to find my way around Los Angeles,” Walker said. “I always have to sort of go back to that when thinking about a faculty problem or a student or a staff problem or any of those sorts of things and go ‘Okay, our campus has 45,000 students, a whole bunch of faculty and staff.’ And you imagine yourself as a student coming here from a community college.”
Looking at things from the perspective of a first-time student or faculty member helps ground him in what he knows and find ways he can assist in navigating different issues.
Academic Senate Chair Matthew Jarvis describes Walker as a person to have in the room when tough conversations are needed. His approach is centered around using policy, keeping conversations down to earth and grounded in fact.
“Sean tends to verse things, first by having a command of the rules, and I don’t mean the rules of the debate, I mean the rules of the policy,” Jarvis said. “Sean has a very good knowledge of executive orders, board of trustees policies, Title 5 — the laws that govern us. By having that, that enables you to set the boundaries of what can be, because that’s important.”
Walker is looking to bring institutional knowledge from his experience as senate and department chair to the role of interim provost, while putting forward his experience as a faculty member to the work.
He aims to continue to build on projects that the university has been working on, such as the student success framework and Fullerton Forward, CSUF’s strategic plan. Walker stated his intention to work on better student advising experiences, particularly working on individualized student plans, so students can map out their entire academic career at CSUF.
Walker also emphasized the importance of bringing a mindset centered around the needs of students to his tenure.
“I think always being student-centered and thinking about ‘What’s the experience of our students?’ and how does it relate to us facilitating their success and learning what they need to learn and going out and doing whatever wonderful thing they want to do,” Walker said.
Walker will continue to serve as provost and VPAA until President Ronald Rochon and the search committee decide on a permanent candidate for the role.