Cal State Fullerton’s next president will be Ronald Rochon, who comes from the University of Southern Indiana to lead the largest university in the Cal State system.

The California State University board of trustees appointed Rochon on Wednesday morning; the announcement coming as the university started its third day of commencement ceremonies. He will take over on July 22.

“I am honored to join the Titan community and excited to work alongside the university’s talented faculty and staff to further support the success of its dynamic and diverse student body,” Rochon said in a statement. “I look forward to collaborating on strategies that will continue to strengthen Cal State Fullerton’s position as an intellectual and cultural catalyst in Southern California and advance its key role in workforce and economic development for the region.”

Interim President Sylvia Alva has held the position since August, following the retirement of Framroze “Fram” Virjee after more than five years in the seat.

Rochon, before becoming the University of Southern Indiana’s president in 2018, was previously the provost and in the past served as the dean of the School of Education at Buffalo State College in New York. He’d been appointed by the Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb as the commissioner of the Midwestern Higher Education Compact. Rochon earned degrees from Tuskegee University and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where he focused on educational policy.Rochon thanked the USI community in a message sent Wednesday announcing that he had accepted the job in Fullerton. “Leading USI has been among the greatest honors of my life,” he said. He will have spent 14 years at USI, a public university with an enrollment of about 10,000 near Evansville, Indiana.

CSU board of trustees Chair Wenda Fong said in a statement that Rochon is “an exemplary fit to lead the university.”

“Dr. Rochon is an innovative and student-centered leader who fosters a culture of collaboration and cultivates a community of care at the institutions he has served,” Fong said.

Fong called Alva the ideal leader to guide the school through its transition and thanked her during a system meeting.

Rochon will earn an annual salary of $498,130, a 4.6% increase over the former president. He will be required to live in a home provided by the university, El Dorado Ranch.

Rochon having experience leading another university for several years along with 30 years in higher education will allow him to step into the job with more ease, said Faculty Senate Chair Matthew Jarvis, a political science professor on campus.

While the players might be different, there will be less of a learning curve to understanding student affairs, human resources and working with local and state politicians to get the university what it needs to succeed, Jarvis said.

Jarvis said the initial challenges Rochon will have to tackle are hiring for several vacant leadership positions that report to him, budget pressures and the nationwide decline in college enrollment.

“The very nature of where we are as a state institution in California,” Jarvis said, “there’s going to be a lot of challenges on making things work with the budget we have, and trying to find new ways of growing that budget.”

Paying staff a competitive wage once the cost of living is factored in will be a challenge, especially since the state is in a budget crunch, he added.

While colleges will face declining enrollment, Cal State Fullerton’s enrollment has remained strong and could become more of a destination that students want to be at, Jarvis said.

“I feel like we are a diamond in the rough,” Jarvis said. “I hope that he is able to get the state, the system and the community to realize what they have in Cal State Fullerton.”

Cal State Fullerton’s last president, Virjee, retired from his position in July 2023. The university had conducted a nationwide search for his permanent replacement.

Rochon will join a university of 41,000 students that is the largest college in the county. Half of its students are Hispanic and around a third are the first generation in their family to attend college.

The university says nearly 100,000 alumni live in the county.

“The quality of our educational institutions is extremely important as we look to bring business and investment into Orange County,” said Orange County Business Council President Jeffrey Ball. “That’s often something businesses look for in making sure they are going to be able to find an adequate skilled workforce to meet their needs. Cal State Fullerton therefore is a key partner for us in terms of economic development.”

An effective president will be engaged and understand what potential employment options are to make sure graduates find good jobs, Ball said.

CSU Chancellor Mildred Garcia said during Wednesday trustees’ meeting in Long Beach that USI under Rochon’s leadership has seen growth and increase in degree completion, including for at-risk students.

“Dr. Rochon is an innovative, results-driven and student-focused leader,” said Garcia, who is a former CSUF president herself, “and I have every confidence that he is the right person, right president at the right time for Cal State Fullerton.”