New Dean Appointed for CEHHS
Cal State San Marcos announced the appointment of Dr. Jennifer Ostergren as the next dean of the College of Education, Health and Human Services.
Ostergren will start in her position on July 1. She will take over from Deborah Kristan, who has filled the dean’s role in an interim capacity since last summer.
Ostergren currently serves as associate dean of student success and academic affairs for the College of Health and Human Services at California State University Long Beach. A faculty member at CSULB since 2003, she has served in a variety of leadership roles, including program director and chair for the Department of Speech-Language Pathology, and most recently as a leading member of CSULB’s comprehensive strategic planning team. She is a CSULB President’s and Provost’s Leadership Fellow (2015-2016) and the recipient of CSULB’s Distinguished Faculty Teaching (2017) and Early Academic Career Excellence (2014) awards.
“I am excited to welcome Dr. Ostergren to CSUSM,” said Carl Kemnitz, the university’s provost and vice president of Academic Affairs. “Her devotion to student success and leadership in strategic planning will help to galvanize the college around a cohesive vision and position it to meet student and community needs for the future.”
In 2019-2020, Ostergren served as an American Council on Education fellow at Arizona State University, where she engaged with the president, provost and senior leadership across multiple divisions, including during coronavirus response phases in spring 2020 and summer 2020.
Ostergren has specialized training and interest in the area of futures thinking and its application to the future of higher education, work and health. She is a licensed speech-language pathologist with more than 20 years of experience as a medical-based SLP across the continuum of care. She has written multiple textbooks and scholarly works in the area of neurologic communication disorders and professional practice issues and training of speech-language pathology assistants.
“I was attracted to the College of Education, Health and Human Services at CSUSM for its devotion to student success, interdisciplinary nature and commitment to serving the local community,” Ostergren said. “These and the college and CSUSM’s deep commitment to equity and inclusion cemented my desire to be a part of the CEHHS family. I see this as an exciting and transformative time for the disciplines of education, health and human services. We have much work to do in supporting our students and the community as we transition out of the pandemic. CEHHS is well poised to have a sustained and critical impact on the local community and the success of its current and future students. I look forward to getting to know the students, faculty and staff of CEHHS and embarking on this important journey together.”
Ostergren holds a doctorate in special education from Claremont Graduate University. Her other two degrees are from CSULB – a master’s in speech-language pathology and a bachelor’s in communicative disorders.