The Board of Trustees will be responsible for selectiving CSUN’s new president.
Erik Fallis, CSU media specialist, said the news of President Jolene Koester’s departure was made public when she sent her letter.
“At some point the Board of Trustees will do a search,” Fallis said. “We are currently doing a search for (a president for) San Diego State (University), for example.”
Fallis said because Koester’s retirement announcement is so recent, there will not be a “scheduled search announcement for some time.”
Fallis said the question of whether an interim president is needed depends on the specifics of the case.
“We have had interim presidents,” Fallis said. “It’s certainly not out of the realm of possibility but it really depends on the timing.”
Fallis said president searches take however long is needed.
“Searches on occasion can restart depending on what is found when they do the search,” Fallis said. “They are almost always national searches.”
Fallis said that the search includes dissemination of the information and collecting the information as well as campus visits.
“It’s a very involved process,” Fallis said. “We want to make sure we get the right candidate for this position on the campus.”
Amanda Flavin, A.S. president-elect, said the CSU has replaced a few presidents in the last year.
“Usually what happens is the board of trustees does a consultation with the campus,” Flavin said. “There are student representatives that do get a say in the consultation process.”
Flavin said there are a few criteria she would want the next CSUN president to meet.
“There are a lot of things that a university president needs to have in order to be a good university president,” Flavin said. “A lot of qualities that President Koester has are wonderful for a university.”
Flavin said she believes Koester did “great things” for CSUN.
“The most important thing from a student standpoint is the opportunity to participate in shared governance with the students,” Flavin said. “Someone who is open to taking student suggestions and listen to student’s point of view.”
Flavin added the next president should be “flexible” when it comes to university matters.
“Our university is very unique. We have a lot of different programs,” Flavin said. “They have to be well- versed in various academic areas.”
Flavin also said CSUN’s next president should know how the budget and government relations work.
“Our university has been positioned really well within the CSU system,” Flavin said. “Having someone step into this role, they really have to understand how to play the game, especially with Sacramento and the Board of Trustees.”
Flavin said she hopes the next president has good “foresight” to anticipate changes in the CSU system.
Biology major Guerillmo Quevedo, 33, said he hopes the next CSUN president restores class sections.
“Right now there’s less class sections and there’s an increase in the amount of students per class,” he said. “It doesn’t take away from the teacher but some students end up not being able meet with the teacher because the class is overwhelming big.”
Quevedo said from a student standpoint the next leader of CSUN should have a good balance between knowing the needs of the students and following the rules of the CSU system.
“I’m sure there are certain mandates the new president per the CSU policies has to follow,” Quevedo said. “But I think it would help to be aware of what is going on in the campus versus being more of a closed door policy.”
Quevedo hopes in the future students will be able to have more access and be able to express what they want.
“It would put people more at a level where if there is a question, there are certain channels a student can go through to receive an answer,” Quevedo said.
