|
Search
begins for President Maxson's replacement
By
Jennifer Frehn
Daily Forty-Niner
Assistant News Editor
The
California State University Board of Trustees
will begin searching this month for a new
president of Cal State Long Beach to replace
current President Robert C. Maxson, who
announced his retirement in February.
"It
will be really difficult to fill Maxson's
shoes," said Colleen Bentley-Adler,
director of public affairs at the CSU Chancellor's
Office. "This will not be an easy search."
Bentley-Adler
said the most important criteria the committee
will be looking for are good internal and
external communication skills, the ability
to raise funds for the university and outstanding
academic qualifications.
In
addition, the CSU Web site lists several
other qualifications including "evidence
in campus operations of community understanding
of and support for the campus," "educational
leadership and effectiveness" and "maintains
a perspective of the mission of the CSU
and cognizance of the special demands placed
on the system."
The
first meeting of the search committee will
be held from 1 to 2:30 p.m. on April 26
in the CSULB President's Conference Room
in Brotman Hall. This will be the only meeting
that is open to the public. Bentley-Adler
said the process usually takes six months
or so, but because there will be no meetings
during the summer, this search may take
up to eight months.
The
purpose of this initial meeting is to discuss
the role of the committee, set the meetings
schedule, review presidential position and
discuss any other business related to the
search process.
Under
the CSU Board of Trustees' presidential
selection policy, adopted in 1997, the chair
of the board establishes a five-person Trustees'
Committee for the selection of the president,
which is composed of the chair of the board,
the chancellor and three trustees, one of
whom is designated as committee chair by
the board chair.
Trustee
Bob Foster will chair the Trustees' Committee
for the selection of the president. The
other trustee members are Debra Farar and
Ray Holdsworth, along with CSU Chancellor
Charles B. Reed and Trustee Chair Murray
Galinson.
Bentley-Adler
said, for most searches, the committee expects
between 50 to 100 applicants. For CSULB,
however, she said there may be less applicants
because of the size of the campus.
"At
a smaller campus, it is easier to [find]
a president," Bentley-Adler said, who
mentioned Stanislaus as an example. She
explained that many applicants won't apply
for the CSULB position because they don't
have the experience needed. Also, she said,
candidates will most likely apply from many
places because Maxson has raised the profile
of the campus on a national level.
"I
think it will make candidates from all across
the country stand up and look at CSULB as
a really good place to come be a president
because of its really strong academic profile
and student body," she said. "It
is a campus on the move, primarily because
of what Maxson has done in the past 10 years."
CSULB,
with nearly 35,000 students, is the second
largest four-year university in California.
Students are served by nearly 2,000 faculty
within the university's eight colleges,
which offer 81 baccalaureate degrees and
66 master's degrees as well as two joint
doctoral degrees. "The Beach,"
as Maxson calls it, was the first campus
to offer academic scholarships to California
high school valedictorians and National
Merit Scholars through its President's Scholars
Program, which now supports more than 350
students. The university is also a member
of the Long Beach Education Partnership,
considered the national prototype of seamless
education from preschool through the master's
degree.
If
all goes well at the April 26 meeting, an
ad will be written listing the specific
requirements the committee wants. The search
committee will then review the applicants
and select a list of 10 or 20 semifinalists
and to interview. After interviews, the
search committee will then select three
to five finalists. The finalists will be
brought to the campus separately for a full
day of visitation.
During
the full day of visitation, at least one
member of the search committee will accompany
the candidate throughout the day. The candidate
will meet with the presidential cabinet,
ASI leaders and the Academic Senate. The
candidate will also give a presentation
at an open forum meeting open to all, at
which anyone in the audience can ask questions.
At the end of the day, the community is
invited to meet the candidate at a reception.
Bentley-Adler
described the process as very open compared
to the search processes of other universities
and said that it has worked well in the
past.
"We
strongly want input from others who are
not on the search committee," Bentley-Adler
said. "We want as broad of an input
[as is] possible."
Bentley-Alder
said the final decision will be made by
the search committee on either their Oct.
27 or Nov. 8 and 9 meetings. Maxson is expected
to stay until that time, and no interim
president will be needed.
Bentley-Adler,
who has worked at the chancellor's office
for 15 years, said she sat in on Maxson's
interviews when he applied to work at CSULB
11 years ago.
"He
wowed everyone, [and] you just knew that
he was who they were going to select,"
she said. "He gave good answers that
made the search committee know that he would
move the campus forward."
However,
she said, "The chancellor is confident
we can find someone who will continue what
Maxson has done and [who] will move the
campus even higher."
|
