SF State’s President Lynn Mahoney speaks at an open forum about CSU’s Chancellor search in SF State’s McKenna Theatre, on Thursday, Feb. 9, 2023. Jolene Koester is currently standing in as interim chancellor of the CSU system. (Benjamin Fanjoy / Golden Gate Xpress) (Benjamin Fanjoy)
SF State’s President Lynn Mahoney speaks at an open forum about CSU’s Chancellor search in SF State’s McKenna Theatre, on Thursday, Feb. 9, 2023. Jolene Koester is currently standing in as interim chancellor of the CSU system. (Benjamin Fanjoy / Golden Gate Xpress)
SF State’s McKenna Theatre held an open forum in line with the selection process for the new chancellor on Thursday. It was an opportunity for members of the California State University community to participate and voice their views of the potential candidates.
The CSU chancellor is responsible for 23 campuses, including SF State. These campuses support a total of 477,000 students and 56,000 faculty and staff, according to the CSU website.
A panel sits to listen to remarks at an open forum about CSU’s Chancellor search in SF State’s McKenna Theatre, on Thursday, Feb. 9, 2023. Jolene Koester is currently standing in as interim chancellor of the CSU system. (Benjamin Fanjoy / Golden Gate Xpress) (Benjamin Fanjoy)
Dr. Jolene Koester is the current interim chancellor. She took over the role after the previous chancellor, Joseph I. Castro, resigned due to his handling of harassment problems at Fresno State University.
Over the next six months, the CSU Chancellor’s Office will seek someone new to assume the position. The forums have taken place on different campuses in north, central and south areas where the CSU system operates.
The forums intend to listen to CSU community members’ concerns. The forum was offered in person or via zoom so students, professors and staff can interact with the board and give their feedback.
Two committees, the Implementation and Assessment committees, collaborated in the chancellor search. The committees work with search consultants to collect and evaluate characteristic data of potential candidates.
The committees consisted of students, faculty and staff to ensure a ‘transparent and inclusive’ selection process.
In a speech, Interim Chancellor Koester stressed the importance of the process.
“We need to have the strongest, most diverse pool of qualified candidates from which we identify and ultimately recommend to the Board of Trustees a finalist or a set of finalists for their consideration and ultimately appoint them to this role,”Koester said.
After the forums, the Implementation Committee collected information and feedback to create a leadership profile. This document will be published and provide the candidate requirements to become chancellor.
However, this confidential component of the proceeding has triggered some controversial reactions among the university community. The process is kept this way to protect candidates from suffering damages on a professional or personal level.
Interim Chancellor of the California State University system Jolene Koester attends an open forum about CSU’s Chancellor search in SF State’s McKenna Theatre, on Thursday, Feb. 9, 2023. (Benjamin Fanjoy / Golden Gate Xpress) (Benjamin Fanjoy)
“Put simply, many good people will not disclose their interests in being the CSU chancellor if it’s going to risk damage to where they currently work and serve,” Koester said. “This is not a secret search. It is a close search.”
Senior director of Public Affairs for the CSU Chancellor’s Office Mike Uhlenkamp spoke to Golden Gate Xpress about the confidentiality of the process.
“At the end of the day, we don’t want to damage that individual’s reputation with their own stakeholders because they’ve expressed interest or they’ve participated in this situation,” Uhlenkamp said.
The McKenna Theatre prepared to host an event like it hasn’t seen since before the pandemic. Despite all the preparation, attendance was still low.
Lynn Mahoney inaugurated the open forum with a speech that highlighted SF State’s values.
Attendees online and in person expressed their thoughts and opinions. About 240 people live streamed the event.
Members of SF State’s Associated Students were particularly active in an otherwise empty theater. They highlighted the importance of diversity at CSU.
“We deserve to have a chancellor in university that will make space for professors and counselors that look like us because representation in higher education matters,” President of Associated Students Karina Zamora said.
Some key points were repeated during the forum. Housing and affordability were especially strong.
Cal Poly Pomona University Alumna Blanca Gonzalez spoke about the housing situation on her campus.
Larry Adamson (R) attends an open forum about CSU’s Chancellor search in SF State’s McKenna Theatre, on Thursday, Feb. 9, 2023. Jolene Koester is currently standing in as interim chancellor of the CSU system. (Benjamin Fanjoy / Golden Gate Xpress) (Benjamin Fanjoy)
“There are protests going on at the campus right now because students found out that on-campus housing won’t be an option for them anymore and will only be provided for new incoming like freshmen and transfers,” Gonzalez said.
On the other hand, speakers seemed to agree that living in San Francisco supposes very high expenses. That is why some of them demanded the new chancellor pay special attention to financial aid and basic needs for students and staff.
Other remarks during the forum were about the importance of public education rather than enrollment growth.
Teddy Albiniak, an alumnus of SF State and immediate past chair of the Academic Senate, spoke about this issue.
“Growth shouldn’t be the only metric for the system’s success,” Albiniak, said. “I think that you should choose someone who is a staunch defender of public education, who can go into the airwaves and make the case that public education isn’t just a public good but ought to be a right.”
Some ways to get involved in the chancellor selection process is via the stakeholder survey or by submitting a nomination on their website.
“The board is going to ultimately only point to one individual for this position,” Interim Chancellor Koester said.
A new chancellor is expected to be chosen by July 2023.
If the search is unsuccessful the same selection process would take place again and Jolene Koester would remain as chancellor for the time being. However, they feel confident this won’t be the case, and they will find a new chancellor to take over the role this summer
Editor’s Note: This article has been updated to correct a source’s name
Andrea Gallego (she/her) is a reporter for Golden Gate Xpress. She is an exchange student from Spain. She is from Madrid, Spain, but she currently lives in San Francisco. She is majoring in both journalism and cinema. She previously wrote for a Spanish student magazine called Revista (In)cognita. She has always been interested in everything related to the arts and literature. For the last few years, she has also been immersed in international political issues thanks to the Models of United Nations she has participated in.
Benjamin Fanjoy is a San Francisco-based photojournalist. Originally from Maryland, Benjamin moved to San Francisco in the summer of 2018 after completing his five-and-one-half year enlistment in the United States Coast Guard. He is currently studying Journalism (concentrating on Photojournalism) with a minor in Political Science at San Francisco State University. Benjamin has photographed social justice movements of historical relevance including Black Lives Matter, Stop Asian Hate, Abolish ICE, the wildfires in Northern California, San Francisco's response to Covid-19, and the immigration surge at the Tijuana-San Ysidro Port of Entry in Mexico. Benjamin has worked with The Associated Press, Bloomberg, The San Francisco Chronicle, The San Francisco Standard, El Tecolote and Golden Gate Xpress.
