The California State University Board of Trustees, is on the hunt for the next campus President, after President Zelezny retired in December 2023.
California State University, Bakersfield has helped with gathering information through the Associated Students Inc., by hosting six open forums with students at CSUB, one being at the Antelope Valley campus. The open forum took place in order to gather general information on what the students want to see in their next CSUB president.
At the forum on April 16, students shared what they were looking for in various areas such as clubs, enrollment services, educational background and what they hope the next president will be like within the campus community.
Erin Pruitt, ASI Director of Students with Disabilities, and Taylor Thomas, ASI Vice President of Llegislative Affairs, led the event and asked questions regarding what students hope to see in the next president of CSUB.
Students shared that they believe CSUB is a school with affordability and that they have great programs such as nursing, biology and geology. They want the next president to be more involved in knowing what programs CSUB has to offer towards students and how the programs are doing on campus.
Students shared that they want the president to be engaged and involved with the community by attending campus, club, and academic events that CSUB hosts.
Karen Navarro, ASI Director of Student Support, mentioned how they want the next CSUB president to make sure that they are making themselves known at the Antelope Valley CSUB extended program and creating a presence on the extended campus as well.
“The committee provided a great opportunity for me, and any other student, to reply. They were always asking for more feed back, and we sometimes would go back to earlier points if we felt like they were relevant,” said Robert Vazquez, English graduate student at CSUB.
Vazquez is hoping that the president has great education experience, understands the student experience as well as someone who didn’t just go to school, but who is innovated and isn’t afraid to take risks.
Pruitt shares that she is really excited to meet with the committee that is working to find the next CSUB president, and to share what the students have discussed from all the open forums they have hosted.
Pruitt has taken note on what students have been sharing that they are looking for such as, what community leadership looks like to them, how they plan to increase campus engagement, and what their track record is when it comes to things like increasing enrollment numbers.
Overall students hope that the next president of CSUB actually wants to be involved on campus, knows what the campus stands for, and making sure that they are doing the things they say they want to do now rather than promising to deliver them in the future.
The open forum, open to all CSUB, and community members, hosted by CSU Chancellor Mildred García, CSU Board of Trustees Chair Wenda Fong, and other members of the search committees is on April 23 from 12:30 p.m. -2:30 p.m. at the Solario de Fortaleza in the Student Recreation Center at CSUB, or you can register in advance to speak via zoom. For more information on the committee members and registration to Zoom, you can visit https://news.csub.edu/csub-presidential-search-committee-to-hold-open-forum
This is an ongoing series and updates will be posted on therunneronline.com as more information is received.
