Resolution on Selection of Presidents in The California State University

Resolution Number: RF11-292

September, 2011

Whereas:

The Higher Education Employer-‐Employee Relations Act provides that “the Legislature recognizes that joint decision-‐making and consultation between administration and faculty or academic employees is the long-‐accepted manner of governing institutions of higher learning and is essential to the performance of the educational missions of these institutions” [HEERA 3561(b)]; and

Whereas:

The current CSU Board of Trustees Policy for the Selection of Presidents asserts that the “purpose of the campus visit is to encourage candidates to remain interested in pursuing the presidency by engaging in ideas with campus constituents groups and through promotion of the campus and the community” and that the campus visit “generates a foundation for the new president’s success on campus”; and

Whereas:

Each member campus of the California State University (CSU) system displays a unique culture and embodiment of shared governance, the understanding and appreciation of which requires immediate and first-‐hand experience; and

Whereas:

The engagement and support of faculty, staff and students is essential to the success of any president; and

Whereas:

Arriving on campus without the support and legitimacy provided in part by the process of campus visits would put the chosen candidate for president at a significant disadvantage in building a successful transition; and

Whereas:

Despite well-‐reasoned legislative mandates, best practice in higher education and its own long-‐standing practice, the CSU Board of Trustees is proposing the elimination of the campus visit for final candidates for CSU presidents, in direct opposition to its own stated goals in both the current and proposed policy to “generate confidence in the selection process and garner local support for the eventual appointee”;

Resolved:

That the Academic Senate of San Francisco State University oppose any elimination of the campus visit in the selection of presidents in the CSU and strongly urge the CSU Board of Trustees to continue past practice as articulated in its current policy; and be it further

Resolved:

That the Academic Senate of San Francisco State University distribute copies of this Resolution to Chancellor Reed, to the CSU Board of Trustees via Chair Carter, and to the CSU Academic Senate via Chair Postma.