News Update

Ex-CSU Chancellor to teach at Cal Poly

Former CSU Chancellor Joseph Castro will become a tenured professor at the Cal Poly San Luis Obispo campus in February, according to media reports.

A Cal Poly spokesman confirmed the news with student media and said the university is mandated to grant the faculty position. Castro will officially start Feb. 18. He will be teaching leadership and public policy in the management, human resources and information systems concentration of the business college.

Castro was granted retreat rights, or the ability for a university administrator to “retreat” to a faculty position, in September 2020 shortly after he became chancellor. Multiple CSU faculty groups have criticized Castro’s settlement for giving him a teaching position.

Castro resigned as chancellor in February amid an outcry from students and faculty over how he handled sexual harassment complaints while president of  Fresno State University from 2013 to 2020. An external investigative report released last week found Castro displayed a “blind spot” to the complaints and should have done more to discipline the administrator accused of the harassment.

Last week, Castro told EdSource that he learned “many lessons” from how he handled the sexual harassment complaints at Fresno State. He also said he looked forward to sharing those lessons publicly to “assist higher education leaders and governing board members across the nation who face similar personnel matters.”