The California State University (CSU) Board of Trustees is beginning the search for a new president of California State University, Chico to succeed Gayle E. Hutchinson, Ph.D., who will retire as campus president at the end of the 2022-23 academic year.
The first meeting of the Trustees' Committee for the Selection of the President will be held in a hybrid in-person/virtual open forum from 12:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 2 in the Bell Memorial Union Auditorium on campus. During this time, the committee will outline the search process and the community will be invited to share their preferred attributes of the next president of Chico State. Please note that campus and community members wishing to address the committee through the virtual option are required to register in advance. The deadline to register to speak during the open forum is Wednesday, Feb. 1 at 5:00 p.m. Confirmed registrants will receive details about how to participate.
CSU Trustee Lillian Kimbell will chair the committee. The other trustee members include Doug Faigin, Yammilette Rodriguez and Jose Antonio Vargas, as well as Trustee Chair Wenda Fong and CSU Interim Chancellor Jolene Koester.
The virtual open forum will be web-streamed live and archived on the President Search website, where individuals may also provide their input via written submission.
Board policy requires the chair of the CSU trustees to appoint an Advisory Committee to the Trustees' Committee. The Advisory Committee is composed of representatives from the faculty, staff, students and alumni, as well as a member of a campus advisory board, all of whom are selected by the campus's constituency groups. Also on the Advisory Committee is a vice president or academic dean from the campus, and a president of another CSU campus—both selected by the chancellor. Both committees function as one unified group.
Members of the Advisory Committee for the Selection of the President include:
- Holly Nevarez, Ph.D., professor, Department of Public Health & Health Services Administration, and Jaime Raigoza, Ph.D., associate professor, Computer Science Department (faculty representatives)
- Marianne Paiva, Ph.D., chair, Academic Senate
- Tasha Alexander, coordinator and advisor (staff representative)
- Krystal Alvarez and Mutjaba Azam (student representatives)
- Darryl Schoen (alumni representative)
- David Hodson (campus advisory board representative)
- Monique Sendze, Ed.D., vice president for information technology and chief information officer (administration representative)
- Matthews Jackson and Dennis Ramirez (community representatives)
- Adela de la Torre, Ph.D., president, San Diego State University
Over the next several months, the committee will review candidates and conduct interviews.
About the California State University
The California State University is the largest system of four-year higher education in the country, with 23 campuses, nearly 460,000 students, and 56,000 faculty and staff. Nearly 40 percent of the CSU's undergraduate students transfer from California Community Colleges. The CSU was created in 1960 with a mission of providing high-quality, affordable education to meet the ever-changing needs of California. With its commitment to quality, opportunity and student success, the CSU is renowned for superb teaching, innovative research and for producing job-ready graduates. Each year, the CSU awards more than 132,000 degrees. One in every 20 Americans holding a college degree is a graduate of the CSU and our alumni are 4 million strong. Connect with and learn more about the CSU in the CSU NewsCenter.