Dear Campus Community,
I am pleased to announce that Dr. Karen Moranski has accepted the appointment of Sonoma State University’s Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs. We have been fortunate to have benefitted from Dr. Moranski’s outstanding contributions and wealth of experience while she served as interim Provost since July 1, 2020.
Dr. Moranski will continue to provide leadership and vision of the university’s academic programs and admissions and outreach efforts. Her understanding of the value of integrating insights from diverse groups and disciplines has allowed her to ensure collaboration between various communities on campus and the administration.
As a scholar of medieval literature, Dr. Moranski came to Sonoma State in 2016 from the University of Illinois Springfield (UIS). Her achievements at SSU include taking a leadership role in the recent structural reorganization in Academic Affairs and Student Affairs and assuming leadership of Admissions and Student Recruitment, now Strategic Enrollment. She has overseen a significant overhaul of processes and organizational structure to address the university’s strategic enrollment goals. Since 2016, she has had primary responsibility for managing institutional efforts to meet SSU’s targets for Graduation Initiative 2025, and she has worked with Student Affairs and the Office of Advancement on various diversity, inclusion, and student success initiatives. Her work in managing budget crises in Illinois and supporting emergency operations here at Sonoma State positions her to help lead the campus in planning for a post-COVID-19 environment.
Her expertise in the area of interdisciplinary studies has also been an asset for the university and was sparked as a college student majoring in English and History at Tulane University in New Orleans and in her study abroad experience at the University of Kent at Canterbury. Her research focus is on political prophecy, medievalism, race, and gender in literature and curricula, and assessment of general education.
Dr. Moranski grew up in Texas and Louisiana. She is the daughter of two first-generation parents and believes deeply in the power of access to higher education and the mission of the California State University. She holds a doctorate in English from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. She has taught undergraduate and graduate courses in English, as well as offering courses in the Honors Program and the first-year experience program.
Dr. Moranski lives in Rohnert Park with her husband, John, who serves as a librarian at Rancho Cotate High School. They are parents to Kate, a graduate student studying Art History.
With Gratitude,
Judy K. Sakaki, President