Two SJSU administrators resign

Two top-ranking administrators have unexpectedly resigned their positions at San Jose State University -- just a day after Athletic Director Chuck Bell announced his retirement -- surprising even campus veterans.

Vice President and Provost Marshall Goodman, who was the university's chief academic officer and No. 2 administrator on campus, and Monica Rascoe, vice president for student affairs, resigned Wednesday, effective immediately. Rascoe has taken the position of special assistant to the president, and Goodman is on a year's paid professional leave with rights to return as a political science professor.

Goodman acknowledged Thursday that he stepped down at the suggestion of interim President Don Kassing, who recently moved from vice president for finance and administration to a two-year post leading the university. Kassing took over after a new president, Paul Yu, resigned two weeks into the job.

``I love the campus. It's a great university. We all go into these positions with the recognition we serve at the pleasure of your superior -- in my case, the president,'' said Goodman, who arrived at San Jose State three years ago from the University of Wisconsin's Milwaukee campus. ``You live by the sword and die by it. I accept the president needs his team.''

Report to Kassing

Goodman, Rascoe and Bell, who steps down Dec. 1, all reported directly to Kassing, who announced the changes Thursday in a campuswide e-mail. Their successors were already in place -- Carmen Sigler, a respected campus dean, is the acting provost, and Veril Phillips is acting vice president for student affairs. Phillips, a former longtime San Jose State professor and administrator, most recently had come out of retirement to work as interim vice president for student affairs at Towson University in Maryland for former San Jose State President Robert Caret.

Goodman was a semifinalist in the search to replace Caret.

Several faculty members who worked closely with the administrators said there was no apparent tension between Kassing and Goodman, so the news caught many people by surprise.

``It seems like our new president is cleaning house,'' said James Brent, a professor and former academic senate president who team-taught a political science course with Goodman. ``The whole campus is really stunned.''

Goodman said he would not comment on his relationship with Kassing -- who praised Goodman's and Rascoe's accomplishments in his e-mail -- but declined to comment further on the resignations. Rascoe could not be reached for comment Thursday.

Goodman came to the campus in January 2001 and immediately set up task forces and launched initiatives, which put off some faculty.

Freshman program

One of his most widely recognized contributions was starting a freshman seminar program, called MUSE, which places new students in small courses with professors who request to teach the classes. The idea was to initiate freshman into the joys and requirements of academic scholarship in a way that would help them succeed and get the most out of the university.

Goodman also led the way in bringing wireless technology to the campus, created a global studies program that has increased the number of students studying abroad and opened new opportunities for faculty.

While Goodman's ideas, energy and enthusiasm won him fans, his charge-ahead style put others off.

``There's a faction on campus that really liked him and those who really didn't,'' said Wiggsy Sivertsen, director of counseling services, who praised Goodman's ``energetic commitment'' to student learning. ``He was not a person who engendered a lot of neutral ground.''

Those who were not admirers thought he was arrogant and had an attitude of "My way, or the highway," she said.

Goodman's tenure coincided with a tightening of the university's budget, and it stymied some of his efforts.

Some deans may have believed Goodman did not give them enough autonomy, Brent said. Money also was a point of tension -- Goodman used money that might otherwise have gone to the colleges to advance some of his initiatives.

David Conrath, dean of the College of Business, said he found Goodman on balance to be a positive presence.

``I think he was a dynamic force in the university, and being a dynamic force'' inevitably brought him up against people who did not agree with the directions he set, Conrath said.

The changes in the top administrative ranks come at a time when the campus already is dealing with turnover. In the past year, several deans have left, taken leaves or announced they will be leaving.

``I joked with somebody that we are Interim U.,'' said Conrath, who is heading back to Canada at the end of the year.

Goodman said he will use his leave to read in his academic field, political science, and consider his options. He will continue to draw his $180,972 annual salary.

Rascoe also will retain her vice presidential salary of $140,556. Her duties for Kassing are still being worked out.