Spartan Daily

The California State University Board of Trustees has created a special committee to recommend changes to the process for electing CSU presidents and their compensation.

The Special Committee on Presidential Selection and Compensation will discuss what could and should be changed regarding the selection process and address the issue of presidential compensation, according to Liz Chapin, Public Affairs spokeswoman for the California State University Chancellor's Office.

The committee, which was created at the request of Chancellor Charles Reed and Board of Trustees Chairman Herb Carter, is suggesting the changes to help identify internal candidates within the CSU, Chapin said.

"Many presidents are at or nearing retirement age and the policy for selecting candidates hasn't been amended in 10 years," said Chapin, "so many new presidents are coming in and it's time to make changes."

The California State Student Association, which addresses issues affecting students at the statewide level, will discuss their stance on the issue of presidential selection and compensation at their next meetings from Sept. 16 until 18.

"We are aware of the committee and monitoring the situation, but haven’t taken a specific stance," said Miles Nevin, executive director of the California State Student Association.

At the second meeting of the committee held on Aug. 24, the members discussed revising the campus visit process and the elimination of a second review panel, according to a press release from the Chancellor's office.

Chapin said that with the current process there has been an issue with the privacy of presidential candidates and the new process will give those candidates more privacy.

Finalists names are released, but those finalists might not end up being selected, she said.

Although, SJSU's Academic Senate currently doesn't have any resolutions concerning the issue of the presidential selection process, Beth Von Till, Academic Senate Chairwoman said that there have been some concerns.

Von Till said she has gotten word that most people are concerned about the possibility of the lack of campus visits by finalists.

The campus visits give an opportunity for students and the community to look at the candidate, said Von Till.

"What would it mean if finalists no longer came to campus?" she said. "I wouldn't be surprised if someone brought this up at the next Academic Senate meeting."

Tomasz Kolodziejak, President of SJSU Associated Students and a member of CSSA was involved in the selection process of President Mohammad Qayoumi, who took office in Aug. 2011.

According to Kolodziejak, the Associated Students has no official stance on the topic, but will form a statement after the CSSA meets Sept. 16.

"Usually the A.S. president serves on the presidential search advisory committee with the chancellor and trustees," he said. "Everything is confidential and we can't discuss it until the entire search is over."

Chapin explained that the board sees this as an opportunity to address the compensation policy — in part because of negative legislative attention surrounding the issue.

"It's an ideal time to look into it," she said. "The board wants to make recommendations and ease the attention."

The board of trustees' committee will make recommendations regarding changes to the selection process at their next meeting on Sept. 20 and 21, said Chapin.