California State University San Marcos announced Wednesday the appointment of Jacquelyn Kilpatrick, a respected professor and administrator at the University of Hawai’i-West O’ahu, as founding director for its new School of Arts.

The School of Arts will be home to the programs delivered by the Visual and Performing Arts Department, an interdisciplinary major with distinct subjects that students may specialize in, including arts and technology, dance studies, music, theater, and visual arts and culture.

“The mission of the School of Arts is to provide an inclusive collaborative community where artists, scholars and students actively engage in developing artistic practices, critical thinking, cultural intelligence and creativity,” said Adam Shapiro, dean of the the College of Humanities, Arts, Behavioral and Social Sciences.  “Dr. Kilpatrick brings with her a wealth of academic experience as well as a background in leading and developing new programs collaboratively.”

Prior to her tenure at the University of Hawai’i, Kilpatrick served as a special assistant to the provost, and professor and chair in the department of English at California State University Channel Islands.  She was one of 12 founding faculty members responsible for the development of initial policies and procedures for the university, including the creation of curriculum for degree programs such as the bachelor of arts in performing arts.

“I’ve had the opportunity of starting programs before, but the new School of Arts is really something special to me and to the campus.,” said Kilpatrick. “Through the coming years we will be building a very important educational and community enterprise for this area and for the CSU.”

Kilpatrick earned a Ph.D. in Literature from the University of California Santa Cruz and a M.A. in English and American Literature from California State University Fresno. Much of Kilpatrick’s academic research has focused on Native Americans in film.

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