Around 40 San Jose State community members shared their concerns with the SJSU presidential search committee on Wednesday in the Student Union Ballroom.
The CSU Board of Trustees launched a national search for the new SJSU president after former president Mary Papazian announced her resignation on Oct. 7, 2021, concluding her tenure on Dec. 21, according to an Oct. 7, 2021 SJSU blog post.
Wednesday’s open forum was the “kickoff” of the nationwide search, said the California State University public affairs senior director Michael Uhlenkamp.
“[Members of the board] are gathering the input from the campus community in terms of the knowledge, skills and abilities that are requisite in the new president,” Uhlenkamp said.
Following the CSU policy for presidential selection, the search committee is made of trustee and advisory committees, both with members appointed by the chair of the board.
The trustees committee includes the board chair, four trustees and the CSU chancellor. It’s collectively in charge of recruitment, selection, and appointment of the future SJSU president.
The advisory committee includes SJSU representatives from the faculty, staff, students, alumni and a member of a campus advisory board, who all provide consultation to the trustees committee.
The SJSU presidential search committee is made of 18 members in total, according to an April 22 SJSU press release.
The presidential search committee will “hopefully” announce the candidate selected to become the SJSU president in November, Uhlenkamp said.
Before the start of the open forum, SJSU staff and facilities workers protested near the university’s Student Union asking for wage rising and negotiations with the SJSU administration.
The protest was organized by the Teamsters local 2010, a labor union representing more than 14,000 workers in higher education which includes the CSU employee union, according to its website.
Some of the labor union members attended the open forum in the Student Union Ballroom after the protest.
“Because the trustees are here . . . we want them to understand that we are invested, we are part of the campus,” said Howard Hall, SJSU facilities staff worker. “Having said that, we want to be treated fairly.”
Hall said he’s looking for an SJSU president with the same work ethic as the former SJSU president Don W. Kassing, who was SJSU president from 2005 to 2008, and interim president between 2004-5 and 2010-11, according to the SJSU website.
“He was probably the one president that I saw that was out all the time . . . he knew your name if you came up,” Hall said. “He would sit there, and he would listen to what the problems were to try to make it better.”
Christopher Steinhauser, CSU trustee and chair of the search committee, opened introduced and moderated the open forum.
“We will be working together to recruit and seek nominations and applications of highly qualified individuals,” Steinhauser said. “We are eager to hear from all of you throughout this process.”
Jolene Koester, CSU Interim Chancellor said to the audience before the opening of public comments that the search will be conducted in a confidential manner to protect the candidates, who can’t disclose their interest for the president position without affecting their current career.
“We do conduct the searches in a confidential manner for many reasons I have just outlined, but there is a presidential advisory committee that is going to be fully engaged,” Koester said. “The members of that committee represent a key constituency of San Jose State University.”
The forum was open for 2-minute long public comments, in-person and on Zoom.
Many audience members said they’re looking for a president who cares about diversity and representation, fighting racism and racial inequalities and improving the communication with labor unions among the campus community.
Felicia McKee-Fegans, chair of the SJSU Black Faculty and Staff Association, said she would like to make sure that the future president will continue to meet with the African American community and the Native American community who are “very small and often left out.”
Phillip Heller, president of the Jewish Faculty and Staff Association, said the next SJSU president should act against anti-semitic acts affecting Jewish students and faculty members on campus.
“I rise to remind the committee their responsibility to choose a president who’s committed to ethnic equality and safety for everyone,” Heller said. “Our next president needs to be committed to creating a climate where intolerance is not tolerated.”
Sharmin Khan, SJSU linguistic and language development lecturer, said she wants a president who will be committed to labor protection.
“Secondly, In the spirit of shared governance, [it’s important] that faculty is received, not subservient to administration, but as equal,” Khan added.
Hall, who came to the open forum after the protest, said to the committee that SJSU workers are looking for somebody who will listen, talk and “bring everyone to the table of discussion” and not just their management team.
Associated Students President Anoop Kaur said the future SJSU president should value “communication, transparency, and openness.” She said the president will have to rebuild trust with the campus and Downtown San Jose communities.
“I never realized until now how important the president drives the university,” said SJSU student engagement coordinator Clarissa Mae Calimbas after the forum. “So I wish there were more students present.”
The forum was the only presidential committee meeting open to the public in the process of the future SJSU president search, according to the April 22 SJSU press release.
