San José State University Dean of Academic Planning Division

Organizational History

In 1857 the San Francisco Board of Education established Minns' Evening Normal School for current and prospective teachers in the city. Named after its principal, Washington Minns, the institution was formally established as the first California State Normal School by the State Legislature in 1862. A decade later, the Legislature voted to move the Normal School to San José, and the school relocated to its new home on Washington Square prior to the fall term of 1872. After a fire destroyed the Normal School building in 1880, the Legislature authorized $200,000 to construct a new building on the same site. Completed in 1881, the building was commonly referred to as the Second State Normal School. After several names and curriculum changes, Minn's Normal school is now San José State University, offering more than 134 bachelor and master degrees with 110 concentrations, and is recognized as one of the top public universities granting such degrees in the West.

The Academic Planning & Budget Division of San José State University is overseen by the Office of the Provost. The Dean of Academic Planning served as director of the department and today oversight of the department is under the Office of the Vice Provost. According to the division's mission statement, the Academic Planning & Budget Division is responsible for the planning and direction of programs of institutional research, analytical studies, marketing research, certain management information systems and program assessment and evaluation. The division is also responsible for managing the student evaluation of teaching effectiveness through the Student Opinion of Teaching Effectiveness Program (SOTE & SOLATE).

From the guide to the San José State University Dean of Academic Planning Records, 1967-1980, (San José State University. Library.)