On April 7, 2016 Geraldine M. Jones was named as the president of California University of Pennsylvania by The Board of Governors of the State System of Higher Education.
According to Cal U’s “Meet The President” webpage, Geraldine M. Jones started her relationship with Cal U as a student. She graduated with a bachelor of education degree in 1972. She then went on to obtain a master’s degree in education from the university in 1980. After graduation, Jones began her career as a second-grade teacher in Albert Gallatin School District, located in Uniontown, PA.
It was not long before Jones returned to Cal U, serving as a program director for the university’s Upward Bound program. She held this position for 20 years as well as chair of the Department of Academic Services for 11 years. Jones has also held the title of associate dean of the College of Education and Human Services for two years before going to serve as the college dean from 2000-2008. In July of 2008, Jones was named the provost/vice president for academic affairs. She continued as the vice president until May of 2012 when she was appointed acting university president for the first time.
During her time in office Jones had managed to erase an 11.5 million deficit and handle university related issues timely and appropriately. She is an extremely qualified candidate for the position with her experience and relationship with the university. However, she was not one of the two finalists for the position that a presidential search committee recommended, thus causing a controversy.
Guiyan Huang was the first candidate recommended. Huang currently is the senior vice president for academic affairs, faculty dean and English professor at Norwich University in Vermont. The second candidate was Ralph Rogers, a provost and executive vice president of academic affairs at Nova Southeastern University in Florida. Although Jones wasn’t recommended, the council of trustees voted 9-2 to recommend Jones and Rogers as finalists to the Board of Governors.
Adding to the controversy, just days before it was announced that she was a finalist for the presidency, the university’s faculty union scheduled, then postponed a vote of no-confidence in Jones. Now that she has officially been appointed president faculty is hoping that they can reconcile with Jones.
According to an article published on Trib Live, Union President Barbara Hess said, “We’re glad that the search process is over, Jones was not our first choice, but we wish her well. And we hope that we can work toward a positive resolution on the issue of possible faculty reductions.”
Geraldine Jones will be instilled as California University of Pennsylvania’s president on Friday, October 14, 2016 in a formal ceremony at the university.