Dr. Villarreal was appointed as interim president of CSUDH in Jan. 2026 and her previous positions include acting as Assistant Vice President at CSU Fullerton (2016-2019), serving as Vice President for the Equity, Diversity & Inclusion for the University of Utah (2019-2024) and most recently serving as Vice President for the American Association of Colleges and Universities which have given Dr. Villarreal a wide range of perspectives to draw from.
An article published by the University of Utah, states the following,“VP Villarreal is brilliant in her role, supporting students, faculty, and staff to express themselves freely while continuing to support the university’s mission as a top-tier public institution with unsurpassed societal impact.”
In a one on one interview, Dr. Villarreal shares her ambitions for CSUDH and how she will work to achieve them.
Q: “What drew you to CSUDH? How do you see your leadership skills aligning with the campus’s community?”
A: “I knew the challenges with enrollment and budget… [Those] were areas that I know I’ve made change before in other parts of my career. So it felt like a natural fit,” Dr. Villarreal replied.
Q: “Even in the early days are you looking at any departments, courses, majors if any that you want to make sure reach their full potential?”
A: “What we have to think about is what does it mean to reach our full potential? We get to define that,” Villarreal replied. She continues, “How are we adapting to the external pressures? I think we’re a brilliant campus of brilliant people, so we should be able to figure that part out.”
Q: “What is a successful turnaround given the circumstances that CSUDH currently has?”
A: “I’ve asked all the vice presidents, where are you spending your money? How are you spending your money and where are you duplicating money? Then we have to ask ourselves, what do we want to preserve? For us to get whole, what are we going to stop doing just for right now? It doesn’t mean we cut it. It just means let’s pause that and we move on. We bring it with us, if it continues to matter. It is our responsibility as a cabinet to address this as a university deficit. So we have to be in it together, too, and that’s really where I’m trying to shift the culture of not yours, not mine, but ours.”
Q: “When you face difficult decisions that will benefit either the school or its students, what will you prioritize first and then second?”
A: “Any difficult decision I make is not an either or,” she stated. “In prioritizing students, we are prioritizing the people on our campus. We’re also prioritizing the people who serve our students at different levels. It’s not about the institution, It’s about who we serve, how we serve, where we serve, and when we serve. That’s how I’ll face a difficult decision, and students will always be at the heart of that.”
Q: What is the future of CSUDH?
A:“We have to be agile in adapting to what we need in terms of size…I think the future is going to be defined by us.”