Graphic from CSU website
By Sergio Mercado
This is a story in progress that will be updated as the story develops.
CSU has finalized and announced the members of two committees who will lead the search for CSU’s next chancellor.
The new chancellor will replace Interim Chancellor Jolene Koester. Chancellor Koester started her term as interim chancellor on May 1, 2022, after the resignation of previous chancellor Joseph Castro. This was following the fallout of Castro’s mishandling of several complaints of harassment, bullying and retaliation against a university official during his term as president of Fresno State. This also triggered a systemwide Title IX investigation of the CSU.
The role of chancellor is the highest-level administrator of the CSU, overseeing all 23 campuses and heading the Chancellor’s Council. The Chancellor’s Council coordinates university efforts in a variety of areas, including academic affairs, university advancement and alumni engagement.
The chancellor search will be conducted by two committees: the Implementation Committee and the Assessment Committee. According to the CSU website, the Implementation Committee “identifies the characteristics desired for a successful candidate, approves the final leadership profile . . . and plays an active role in the recruitment and review of prospective candidates.”
The Assessment Committee for the Selection of the Chancellor is made up of representatives of multiple stakeholder groups of the CSU, such as CSU trustees and representatives for students, campus presidents, faculty, staff and alumni among others. They are tasked with making recommendations to the Implementation Committee after reviewing and assessing the prospective candidates.
President Richard Yao will be serving on the Assessment Committee as a campus president representative. “I am very honored to serve on the assessment committee,” President Yao told The CI View. “We are working hard to engage as many constituent groups as possible to get their feedback and input related to the desired characteristics of the new Chancellor to inform the official job profile.”
The chancellor’s office is inviting stakeholders of the CSU, including students, to have their voice heard in the search process. Members of the CSU community will have the opportunity to provide their thoughts and input in the selection of the next CSU chancellor as well as ask any questions they may have in a series of hybrid open forums to be held Feb. 7, Feb. 8 and Feb. 9. The forums will be held online and at the following locations:
Feb. 7: Chancellor’s Office (Long Beach)
Feb. 8: CSU Bakersfield
Feb. 9: San Francisco State
Providing student feedback is an important piece of the Chancellor Search process, as it allows for students to guide the committee in picking a chancellor to best serve the CSU.
To register to make public comment at one or more of these open forums and for more information about the chancellor search, visit https://www.calstate.edu/csu-system/chancellor/chancellor-search/Pages/default.aspx.
