Cal State Fullerton President Ronald Rochon announced Phenicia McCullough as the new vice president for Human Resources and Inclusive Excellence on Nov. 4 via a campuswide email.

The HRIE office oversees departments of Civil Rights and Equity, academic Human Resources services, labor and employee relations, student employment, risk management, Diversity Initiative Resource Centers and Americans with Disabilities Act accommodations.

The national search for vice president of HRIE was announced on Sept. 17, but McCullough has been serving as vice president in an interim capacity since April 2024.

After the search, McCullough, Walla Walla Community College Vice President of Human Resources Marco Baeza and Nevada State University Associate Vice President for Human Resources Steven Kenney were selected as the final candidates.

Before serving as vice president in an interim capacity, McCullough worked as associate vice president of human resources services and chief of operations for the former office of Human Resources, Diversity and Inclusion, among other roles.

During her time as interim vice president of HRIE, CSUF established the Common Human Resources System, an HR data management system for the entirety of the CSU system as well as the Chancellor’s Office.

The office of HRIE was formerly known as the office of Human Resources, Diversity and Inclusion and was subject to a name change following policies passed down by the Trump administration.

Former Vice President of HRIE David Forgues left the role to serve as interim vice president for student affairs in 2024 until someone was found to serve in the position permanently.

While the search for vice president of HRIE has concluded, two searches — provost and vice president of Academic Affairs, and vice president of University Advancement — are still ongoing.

These searches were initially meant to conclude in the spring semester, but Rochon announced in April that the searches had failed and would resume again this fall.

McCullough is additionally serving on the search committee for provost and vice president of Academic Affairs.