San Jose State Interim President Steve Perez announced in a campuswide email Tuesday that Chloe Richter would be the new Community Needs Coordinator.
Richter said the position consists of coordinating student services to better serve students, supporting faculty and staff, as well as writing grants and listening to students about their changing needs.
In the email announcing the position, Perez stated the university needs to build current efforts of student support and identify new ways to be able to support faculty and staff.
Richter said she hopes to address housing and food insecurity as well as menstrual and digital equity for students on campus.
Richter also said she hopes to have “listening sessions” to further engage students and give them a more regular forum to be heard.
“People be[ing] able to participate in creating solutions and students feeling like their needs are met.” she said. “Faculty and staff also feel like this is a place that they want to be working, they feel like they have their needs met as well.”
The new Community Needs Coordinator role was created by Perez in the summer and Richter filled the position after a two and half month search.
SJSU kept the position open to those interested inside and outside of the university.
Richter spent six years working in the Washington County Public Health and Environmental office in Minnesota, where she’s originally from, as a community health specialist, according to the campus wide email.
“I want to be available to students, and I want people to see me as a collaborator, and co-creator, and accessible so that we can work together,” Richter said.
The Community Needs Coordinator will also work closely with SJSU Cares and Counseling and Psychological (CAPS) services.
SJSU Cares, a division of student affairs, assists students who are facing an unforeseen economic crisis by providing direct support and referrals around basic needs including food, housing, emergency assistance and more according to their about page.
Counseling and psychological services is located inside the Student Health Center and advances personal development, enhances student learning and addresses life crises by providing culturally inclusive mental health services according to their about webpage.
Richter said she looks forward to working with both organizations and hopes to continue the work they do to support students.
She said she also looks forward to working alongside SJSU Cares.
SJSU Cares in recent years created and expanded its emergency bed program after calls from student advocacy groups which demanded more to be done for house insecure students according to an Oct. 20 Spartan Daily article.
“There's already so much work going on campus, especially with SJSU cares,” Richter said “Yeah, I want to give them a lot of credit for the work that they've already done.”
Chloe Richter asked that the Spartan Daily include her office number and email as a means of increasing accessibility and to hear student voices.
Office Phone: 408-924-2484
Email: chloe.richter@sjsu.edu
