Portland State University announced that its Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs Susan Jeffords will step down to enable PSU President Ann Cudd the opportunity to build her own leadership team. Vice Provost for Academic Personnel and Dean of Interdisciplinary General Education Shelly Chabon will step in as Interim Provost and Interim Vice President for Academic Affairs effective immediately.
“It has been my honor to serve the students, faculty, and staff of Portland State, and I will miss the many wonderful colleagues that I have worked alongside over the past five years,” Jeffords said.
Jeffords joined Portland State in 2018, joining from the University of Washington where she had served as Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs at the Bothell campus. Jeffords had a distinguished scholarly career in the area of American popular culture, with a particular emphasis on Hollywood film, the Vietnam War, and feminism.
“PSU is grateful for Susan Jeffords’ leadership across the academic enterprise,” said President Cudd. “She was a tireless advocate for students and oversaw the many pivots and transitions of the COVID-19 pandemic. I know my colleagues will join me in wishing her well.”
During her tenure as provost, Jeffords launched the transformational Students First initiative that yielded gains in student retention, graduation, and persistence. In recognition of her work on behalf of students, she was appointed by the HECC as the inaugural co-chair of the statewide Transfer Council, where she worked across the state to remove barriers to transfer. She also championed workforce development and greater student access to career development. Through a focus on key strategic initiatives, she brought new enrollments and external funding to PSU in areas such as cybersecurity, creative industries, healthcare, computational science, and semiconductors.
Shelly Chabon has worked in a university setting for over 35 years and formerly served as Associate Dean of Humanities and Social Sciences in the PSU College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and as chair and professor in Speech and Hearing Sciences. As vice provost she directed leadership training, served as a liaison with union representatives, and oversaw general education including University Studies and PSU’s Honors College.
Chabon received a B.A. in Speech-Language Pathology and Elementary Education from Brooklyn College; a Master’s in Speech-Language Pathology from Pennsylvania State University; a Master’s in Audiology from Towson State University; and a Ph.D. in Speech-Language Pathology from the University of Pittsburgh.
“I am looking forward to working with Shelly on the next chapter of academic excellence at Portland State,” Cudd said.