Academic Career
Koester earned a Bachelor's of Arts from the University of Minnesota in 1970, a Master's of Arts in communication arts from the University of Wisconsin–Madison in 1971, and a Ph.D. in speech communication from Minnesota in 1980. She began her faculty career as a professor of communication studies at California State University, Sacramento in 1980. She held various executive positions in the academic affairs division at Sacramento State prior to her appointment as provost and vice president for Academic Affairs in 1993.
At the beginning of her presidency at Northridge, Koester identified several goals to serve as the focus of the campus' efforts. These include improving graduation rates, creating a user-friendly campus, strengthening the University's connections to the community, and increasing fundraising. In spring 2006, CSU Chancellor Charles B. Reed and the Board of Trustees completed their its second three-year performance evaluation of President Koester. The public summary concluded that Dr. Koester "continues to deliver an outstanding performance as president of a very large urban university."
Koester announced her retirement from the CSU system at the end of 2011.
Read more about this topic: Jolene Koester
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