Assistant News Editor

CSU Bakersfield has hired returning staff and alumnus Vikash Lakhani to take on the position of assistant vice president for student success, retention and graduation initiatives.

Despite just having started his position on Jan. 11, Lakhani already has great ideas for how to positively impact the CSUB campus, such as working with his peers and students to focus on programs that need his attention.

“I am meeting with all of the advisers, I am meeting with the deans, I want to meet with faculty, and I want to meet with students to really get a picture of what is happening,” said Lakhani.

Lakhani is currently working on his Ed.D. at CSU Fresno, he received his Master of Business Administration at CSUB in 2006 and was offered a job on campus as executive director for enrollment management where he worked until 2013. Lakhani then took a job as associate vice president for enrollment management for CSU Humboldt.

Now, returning to CSUB is a homecoming for Lakhani, and even though he was only gone for two and half years, he hesitates that there is much that can change.

This in turn has shifted his focus to a “listening tour,” where he plans to receive feedback and listen to the needs of the campus while collaborating with the institution research office to use data to develop a plan of what needs to be implemented.

“Right now my task is to survey and really find out and understand what the needs are and then hopefully put a campus-wide perspective into multiple programs,” said Lakhani.

Lakhani is also interested in exploring ways in which faculty and students can become involved in retention programs on campus.

“One of the ideas that I’m exploring is having a student advisory committee that will help keep me informed as to what kind of challenges students may be going through and what are some of the barriers that are delaying graduation,” said Lakhani.

In regards to retention, student success and graduation initiatives, CSUB staff is pleased to have Lakhani back to take on that role.

“I am extremely pleased to have Vikash Lakhani back at CSUB,” said Associate Vice President division of enrollment management Jacqueline Mimms. “Mr. Lakhani comes to us with a breadth of valuable experience and a wealth of knowledge on the issues surrounding the CSU student success, retention, and graduation initiatives. He is familiar with ‘best practices’ that have been used strategically at other CSU campuses…and the leadership skills he possesses are a great match for what CSUB needs to improve the retention and graduation rates of our students.”

On the type of advice that might help students that are not succeeding in their courses, Lakhani believes that it is very important to be in touch with not only faculty but also the staff and to not shy away from asking questions.

“Number one, go to class…number two, be in touch with your faculty member…when a faculty member knows your name it makes a huge difference in your success,” said Lakhani.