Dr. Jason Zingsheim named Dean of CAS

zingsheim headshot

Congratulations to Dr. Jason Zingsheim, who recently stepped into his role as Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences (CAS).

As Dean, Zingsheim, a staunch equality advocate, who previously served as interim Dean and Chair for CAS’s Division of Arts and Letters, will work to align the college's goals with the vision of President Cheryl Green and Provost Beverly Schneller. To him, that means “focusing on serving students and encouraging faculty to be lifelong learners,” said Zingsheim, an Arizona native who came to GSU after completing grad school in 2008.

 “I really would like to empower others in the college to be innovative,” he said. “I want to create a space where anyone feels like they can try something new.”

 Zingsheim comes to the role as a well-versed communication expert, having earned his bachelor's degree in Communication at Seattle Pacific University, a masters and Ph.D. at Arizona State University. He then went on to teach communication courses at GSU for over a decade.

But even with all those experiences, one that has most prepared him for his current role was overseeing CAS’s Division of Arts and Letters from 2018 to March 2022. The division’s wide range of disciplines put his communication skills to the test and strengthened his ability to lead a diverse team.

“I had to learn how to understand and work with a number of different disciplines, approaches to teaching, and a diverse set of curriculums,” he said. “That prepared me to be able to speak across discipline boundaries.”

He prides himself on being a pragmatic leader who’s willing to listen and serve his colleagues. With their support, he helped to lead the division amid the pandemic, facilitating students' seamless transition to remote instruction and ensuring their safe return to the classroom. Some of his other notable accomplishments during that time included working with faculty and staff to launch the Center for Community Media and GSU’s Forensic Team.

One of the projects he’s looking forward to working on in his new role include the Jaguar Leap Summer Bridge Program, where students entering GSU are given an opportunity to live on-campus, meet new students, faculty and staff in addition to earning seven college credits before the fall semester starts. He also wants to expand CAS’s work with Credit for Prior Learning, a process used to evaluate and provide college credit for knowledge students have obtained outside of academic settings. These two projects are important to him because they “are effective ways to support student success on different ends of the experience spectrum.”

Dean Zingsheim said he’s looking forward to serving the university.

“I’m really excited about where GSU is going and the role CAS can play in that as we turn the corner into the later stages of the pandemic,” he said. “In this transitional moment under Dr. Green’s leadership, we’re positioned to do some great things and I’m excited to help facilitate that to support the students, faculty, and staff in CAS.”