The California State University (CSU) Board of Trustees is beginning the search for the next president of San José State University (SJSU) to succeed Mary Papazian, Ph.D., who resigned from the campus presidency on December 21, 2021.
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 Wednesday, May 4 in the Student Union Ballrooms on the SJSU 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 SJSU. Please note that campus and community members wishing to address the committee virtually are required to register in advance. The deadline to register to speak during the open forum is Tuesday, May 3 at noon. Confirmed registrants will receive details about how to participate virtually. Advanced registration is not required for individuals wishing to address the committee in person.
CSU Trustee Christopher Steinhauser will chair the committee. The other trustee members include Anna Ortiz-Morfit, Yammilette Rodriguez and Romey Sabalius, as well as Trustee Chair Lillian Kimbell and CSU Interim Chancellor Jolene Koester.
In addition to the opportunity to attend in person, the open forum will also be web-streamed live and archived on the Presidential 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:
- Stefan Frazier, Ph.D., associate professor and chair of the Department of Linguistics and Language Development, and Nidhi Mahendra, Ph.D., professor and chair of the Department of Communicative Disorders and Sciences (faculty representatives)
- Alison L. McKee, Ph.D., chair, SJSU Academic Senate
- Angee Ortega McGhee, associate resource analyst (staff representative)
- Sharanya Kumar and Khoi-Nguyen Nguyen (student representatives)
- Chrissy Chang (alumni representative)
- Edward A. Oates (campus advisory board representative)
- Sheryl H. Ehrman, Ph.D., Don Beall Dean, Davidson College of Engineering (administration representative)
- Maya Esparza and Angel Rios, Jr. (community representatives)
- Cathy A. Sandeen, Ph.D., president, California State University, East Bay
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, 477,000 students and 56,000 faculty and staff. Nearly 40 percent of the CSU's undergraduate students transfer from California Community Colleges. Created in 1960, the mission of the CSU is to provide 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.