Commendation in Honor of Helen Goldsmith

Helen Goldsmith joined the San Francisco State University (SF State) community as a Counseling Intern in 1982, and has since served as a Counselor, Acting Associate Director of the Advising Center, Coordinator of the Liberal Studies Program, Associate Dean of Undergraduate Studies, and Interim Dean of Undergraduate Studies; and

Throughout her career at SF State, Helen demonstrated an unwavering commitment to shared governance and collegiality as Chair of the WASC Subcommittee on Graduation and Retention; the General Education Committee, the Facilitating Graduation Task Force, the Student Success and Graduation Initiative, the Graduation Requirements Task Force, the Baccalaureate Requirements Committee, the Enrollment Management Committee, and countless other committees and task forces; and

As a member of the Academic Senate from 1994-2001 and the Executive Committee of the Academic Senate from 1997-2001 including serving as Vice-Chair from 2000-2001, Helen Goldsmith demonstrated the finest values of compassion, efficiency, and generosity; and

Helen is recognized by all as a caring and generous friend and mentor, whether in planning one of the last fondly-remembered Asilomar Retreats, showing eight successive Deans of Undergraduate Studies the ropes, taking new faculty and staff under her wing, or teaching and advising students in first-year experience and college success courses; and

Helen has combined her exceptional quantitative analytical skills with her commitment to humane values to create people-friendly solutions in such areas as enrollment management, student success initiatives, academic resources, and most recently the new baccalaureate program and the switch to Campus Solutions; and