Amid Budget Cuts, Controversies New President Tapped For Sonoma State University

ROHNERT PARK-COTATI, CA — On the heels of dramatic budget cuts, job losses, ousters, and resignations a longtime university administrator and former special education teacher was tapped to lead Sonoma State University.

The California State University Board of Trustees appointed Michael Spagna as president of the the university, whose current enrollment stands at about 5,000.

That number speaks to the challenges facing Spagna, who is currently interim president of California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt.

“I am deeply honored to be entrusted to lead Sonoma State University,” Spagna said. “This university has a long history of educational excellence and a deep connection to the community that must continue to be strengthened. I welcome the opportunity to collaborate with SSU’s dedicated faculty, staff, students, alumni and stakeholders in launching a new and exciting era for the university. Together we will ensure that SSU thrives and continues to serve as a vital anchor institution for the North Bay," Spagna said in a statement.

He takes the lead of a university experiencing a decade of serious enrollment decline that has worsened the campus’s financial position and ushered in a period of austerity, according to reports.

Seeking to narrow a $24 million deficit, Sonoma State leaders in January unveiled a plan, according to reports, for deep cuts to faculty and staff jobs, while eliminating entire academic departments, degree programs and the NCAA athletics program.

The problems are systemic and this is, in the words of CSU Trustee Mark Ghilarducci, who chaired the presidential search committee, a consequential moment in the university's history.

The tumult followed a turbulent period of leadership turnover at the top of SSU, which according to the Press Democrat, was rocked by the sudden resignation of former President Mike Lee. Lee had replaced Judy Sakaki, who stepped aside in 2022 amid a scandal involving campus sexual harassment complaints against her husband and alleged retaliation on her part.

Wednesday's announcement of Spagna's appointment included no details about how he plans to tackle the challenges facing the university.

Spagna’s credential include a career in the CSU and in the field of education preparation and special education spans that more than four decades. Prior to being named interim president of Cal Poly Humboldt in August 2024, he served as provost and vice president for Academic Affairs at CSU Dominguez Hills for seven years and nine years as dean of the Michael D. Eisner College of Education at California State University, Northridge. Before becoming dean, he held several positions at CSUN over a 17-year period, including faculty president of the college, Eisner chair and executive director, and professor. He has also served at the system level as provost representative on the CSU Admission Advisory Council and as commissioner for the CSU Commission of Professional and Continuing Education.

Outside the CSU, he worked as a consultant to the California State Department of Education, as well as chair of the Institutions of Higher Education Collaborative for the L.A. Compact, and coordinator of the Services to Students with Learning Disabilities program at University of California, Berkeley. In the early years of his career, he was learning disabilities specialist and lecturer at Chabot College in Livermore, California, and special education teacher at Landmark West School in Culver City and at the Resnick Neuropsychiatric Hospital at UCLA.

Spagna earned a Ph.D. in special education from the UC Berkeley and San Francisco State University joint doctoral program. He also holds a master’s in special education from UCLA and a bachelor’s in communicative disorders from Northwestern University.

Spagna will assume the university’s presidency Jan. 20, 2026.

He will receive a salary, according to EdSource, of $419,549, an annual housing allowance of $60,000, a monthly auto allowance of $1,000, and other benefits.