BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 2163|
|Office of Senate Floor Analyses | |
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 2163
Author: Low (D)
Amended: 6/22/16 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE EDUCATION COMMITTEE: 8-1, 6/29/16
AYES: Liu, Block, Hancock, Leyva, Mendoza, Monning, Pan, Vidak
NOES: Huff
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: Senate Rule 28.8
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 49-27, 6/1/16 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT: California State University: appointment of campus
presidents
SOURCE: Author
DIGEST: This bill requires the Trustees of the California State
University (CSU), in exercising its authority to appoint
presidents, to hold at least one public forum with an appointed
president of a campus within 15 working days after the
appointment is made.
ANALYSIS: Existing law establishes the CSU, under the
administration of the Trustees of the CSU, as one of the
segments of public postsecondary education in this state. The
CSU comprises 23 institutions of higher education, each of which
is headed by a president who is appointed by the trustees.
(Education Code § 66600)
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This bill requires the Trustees of the CSU, in exercising its
authority to appoint presidents, to require a person appointed
as president of a campus to participate in at least one public
forum on that campus within 15 working days after the trustees
make that appointment.
Comments
1)Rationale for the bill. This bill emerges out of a concern
regarding the process for appointment of a CSU campus
president. Prior to 2011, the CSU required campus visits that
included an open forum with candidate(s). The slate of final
candidates who visit the campus were required to be announced
in advance of their visits. This policy changed in 2011.
Campus visits are now an optional component of the search
process.
According to the California Faculty Association, all but a few
CSU campus academic senates have adopted resolutions in favor
of reinstating campus visits within the hiring process. The
author asserts, "the CSU is the largest public university
system in the country, and there is an urgent need for a more
transparent selection process. Requiring finalists to
participate in a public campus based forum will allow for the
involvement and participation of the CSU community, which
includes students, parents, faculty and staff."
2)Current policy. The current Policy for the Selection of
Presidents was adopted by the Trustees in September of 2011.
When there is an impending vacancy on a campus, CSU Board of
Trustees policy directs the chair of the board to appoint a
Trustee Committee for the selection of the President comprised
of the board's chair, four trustees and the chancellor. A
second committee is also empaneled, the Advisory Committee to
the Trustees committee, to provide advice and consultation.
The Advisory Committee is comprised of campus representatives,
including:
The chair of the campus Academic Senate;
Two additional faculty representatives, selected by
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the campus faculty;
A member of the campus support staff, selected by
the staff;
A student, selected by the constituted
representatives of the student body;
A member of the campus Advisory Board, selected by
that board;
An alumni of the campus, selected by the campus
Alumni Association;
A vice president or academic dean from the campus;
The president of another CSU campus; and,
Two additional members from constituent groups can
be appointed by either the chair of the board or the
chancellor to ensure diversity of the campus and/or
service area is thoroughly considered during the search.
At the front end of the selection process this Advisory
Committee and the Board of Trustees committee host an open
forum with the campus community at the campus to gain input on
the needs of the campus, and the desired attributes of the new
President. These committees determine the final list of
candidates to be advanced to the Board of Trustees. The
chancellor and chair of the Trustees Committee determine
whether to schedule a campus visit, which is optional. The
process is confidential until a finalist for the position is
announced.
1)Appointments made in the last three years. According to CSU,
"beyond the campus itself, the two biggest criteria that come
into play when developing a final pool of candidates is the
ability to go through the process confidentially and executive
compensation." According to the CSU, candidate pools have
greatly increased since CSU's presidential selection process
was modified in 2011 to make a campus visit for semi-finalists
optional. Fourteen campus presidents have been appointed under
the new policy in the last three years. Among the campus
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presidents selected in 2016, all five are women, which bring
the total number of women presidents to 11 of the 23 campuses.
CSU notes that the appointments made since the implementation
of the new policy have resulted in the most diverse cohort of
campus presidents in any system nationally. CSU believes
eliminating the confidentiality that is afforded candidates
under the new policy would adversely impact the applicant pool
and that CSU would lose the opportunity to attract the best
candidates both nationally and internally.
The provisions in this bill require an individual, within 15
days after being appointed president, to participate in an
open forum on campus. This would ensure that the campus
community has an opportunity to engage with a new president
shortly after the appointment as well as allow the selection
process to remain confidential for candidates competing for
the position.
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal
Com.:YesLocal: No
SUPPORT: (Verified8/1/16)
California State University
OPPOSITION: (Verified8/1/16)
None received
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 49-27, 6/1/16
AYES: Alejo, Travis Allen, Arambula, Atkins, Bloom, Bonilla,
Bonta, Brown, Burke, Calderon, Campos, Chau, Chiu, Cooper,
Dababneh, Daly, Dodd, Eggman, Frazier, Cristina Garcia,
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Eduardo Garcia, Gatto, Gipson, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon, Gray,
Roger Hernández, Holden, Irwin, Jones-Sawyer, Lopez, Low,
McCarty, Medina, Mullin, Nazarian, O'Donnell, Quirk,
Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Salas, Santiago, Mark Stone,
Thurmond, Weber, Williams, Wood, Rendon
NOES: Achadjian, Baker, Bigelow, Brough, Chang, Chávez, Dahle,
Beth Gaines, Gallagher, Grove, Hadley, Harper, Jones, Kim,
Lackey, Levine, Linder, Mathis, Mayes, Melendez, Obernolte,
Olsen, Patterson, Steinorth, Wagner, Waldron, Wilk
NO VOTE RECORDED: Chu, Cooley, Maienschein, Ting
Prepared by:Olgalilia Ramirez / ED. / (916) 651-4105
8/3/16 18:36:24
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