When Cal Poly Humboldt President Tom Jackson Jr. announced his resignation last month, some were surprised at the news he would be retreating to a tenured professor position at the university. But the so-called "retreat rights" allowing him to leave administration and become one of the institution's highest paid professors were written into the terms of his contract when he was hired five years ago.
In a press release announcing that Jackson "will be stepping away from his current position next month," the university said Jackson "plans to transition into an ongoing role at Cal Poly Humboldt, retreating to his tenured professorship working with the College of professional Studies and the College of Extended Education and Global Engagement."
It's unclear exactly what this new role will consist of. Jackson is not currently listed as teaching any classes offered at the university in the fall, and it does not appear from his resume as though he has any teaching experience. The Journal reached out to the deans of both departments to inquire about Jackson's plans.
Cindy Bumgarner, dean of the College of Extended Education and Global Engagement, responded to say, "We are still working through the final details, so I don't have information to share just yet." College of Professional Studies Dean Shawna Young did not respond.
While it's unclear exactly what this new position will entail, its foundation was laid before Jackson began what would prove a transformative, impactful and controversial tenure leading what was then Humboldt State University.
A May 21, 2019, letter from then California State University Chancellor Timothy White detailed the terms of Jackson's employment, including his starting annual base salary of $336,996, not including a $50,000 annual housing allowance and a $1,000 monthly car allowance. The letter notes that Jackson would serve at the pleasure of the CSU Board of Trustees and wouldn't acquire tenure in the executive position. However, the terms included a bit of a safety net.
"As discussed, you will hold a joint appointment with the academic rank of full professor with tenure, subject to faculty consultation, in the College of Professional Studies (School of Education," White wrote in the letter, which Jackson signed off on.
While retreat terms are customary for administrators being promoted from the ranks of professors serving in academic roles, they are less so for career administrators making lateral career changes, as Jackson did when he left a president position at Black Hills State University in South Dakota to take over HSU. According to Jackson's resume, he holds a bachelor's of science degree in business management, a masters in counseling and an advanced degree in education management. In his professional career, he held the positions of academic development specialist at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, project director and director of the student activities center at University of Texas at El Paso, Dean of Students at McMurry University, vice president for student affairs at Texas A&M University at Kingsville and vice president for student affairs at University of Louisville before he was tapped to lead Black Hills State University.
While Jackson's retreat rights were subject to faculty consultation under the terms of White's letter, it appears that was later ratified, according to a July 19, 2023 letter from Cal Poly Humboldt Provost Jenn Capps. The letter specifies that after consultation with faculty leaders, the joint appointment with the rank of professor with tenure was refined to be an interdisciplinary position in the School of Education and Leadership Studies.
"This distinction is made to acknowledge your extensive multidisciplinary skills and expertise in educational administration and leadership, business management and aviation," the letter states, adding the retreat rights allows him to move to a "solely instructional faculty position" and that should he retreat — voluntarily or involuntarily — he would receive the maximum salary for instructional faculty. According to Cal Poly Humboldt's salary scale, that appears to be a monthly salary of $14,487, or about $173,000 annually.
James Woglom, president of the Cal Poly Humboldt Academic Senate, which overwhelmingly passed a no confidence vote in Jackson's leadership last spring in response to his handling of the occupation of Siemens Hall by a group of pro-Palestinian demonstrators, said he doesn't know much about what position Jackson will be moving into, but said he recalls being consulted as the then-chair of school of education as a part of the process and that he and faculty agreed to what was proposed.
As to Cal Poly Humboldt's coming change in leadership, with an interim president expected to be named in the coming weeks and the CSU readying a national search for Jackson's replacement, Woglom says the embattled president's resignation came as good news.
"I think it was the necessary decision," he said, casting the coming change in leadership as a chance for the university to "recommit to democratic intentions and democratic norms," and return to meaningful shared governance.
In a statement issued with the press release announcing Jackson's resignation, CSU Chancellor Mildred Garcia lauded Jackson's "visionary, principled and forward-focused leadership," crediting Jackson with leading the university's "bold transformation" into California's third polytechnic institution. The transformation comes with an historic state investment of $458 million in the university to build new infrastructure and programs, and an ambitious target of doubling enrollment in the coming years.
But Jackson's tenure in Arcata has also been rife with challenges, some of which many believe were self-inflicted, causing strife on and off campus.
About a year after his hire, Jackson drew some local ire when he bucked the recommendation of then Humboldt County Health Officer Teresa Frankovich that the university postpone return of students to campus amid a spike in COVID-19 cases locally, while questioning her competence and motivations. A couple months later, the university again made headlines when it announced it was purchasing a 9.5-acre property near campus to revive plans for a student housing complex that had been opposed by neighbors. About a year-and-a-half later, the university undercut a local nonprofit's efforts to develop a senior housing facility, paying double what the group had offered for a 16-acre property on the outskirts of Arcata. Around the same time — in the fall of 2022 — Jackson made comments during a welcome address about Title IX investigations that some felt were misinformed at best, or at worst an overt attempt to silence survivors of sexual assault and harassment. Jackson would apologize for the comments more than two months after making them, and after they were a focus of a North Coast Journal cover story.
More recently and perhaps most consequently, Jackson's administration's handling of the pro-Palestinian demonstrators occupation of Cal Poly Humboldt's administrative building last spring roiled the campus in controversy, with faculty and staff deeply critical of the president's decision to close campus, shifting courses online and moving commencement ceremonies to other locations, and to enlist the help of hundreds of police officers to clear campus and arrest 32 protesters, including about 15 students. That led to the University Senate's vote of no confidence, and hundreds of faculty and staff members to sign a letter calling for Jackson's resignation.
And in a last official action on campus, Jackson's administration implemented a new locking policy for campus buildings in which nearly all would be locked 24 hours a day, accessible using keycards issued to faculty, staff and students. Members of the University Senate charged the decision was made without input from those who would be most affected.
Throughout all this, enrollment — expected to balloon with the transformation into a polytechnic institution — has remained stagnant, despite the university seeing a record number of applications in advance of the 2023 fall semester.
Woglom, for his, part, said he's excited to move forward, "trying to make this a caring and welcoming space, where important thinking and development can happen."
Thadeus Greenson (he/him) is the Journal's news editor. Reach him at (707) 442-1400, extension 321, or thad@northcoastjournal.com.