CSU Employee Update, June 7

_The following update was provided by the CSU Chancellor’s Office._ h3. Smith Appointed Executive Vice Chancellor for CSU System Dr. Ephraim P. Smith, vice president for Academic Affairs at California State University, Fullerton, has been appointed as executive vice chancellor and chief academic officer for the CSU system. Smith will assume his new post July 1, following the retirement of Dr. Jeronima Echeverria.

Smith, who has served in his current position since 1998, is responsible for managing more than 3,000 faculty and 300 staff members, as well as eight colleges, contracts and grants, institutional research, outreach, admissions, and international partnerships.

From 1990 to 1998, Smith was dean of Fullerton’s School of Business and Economics where he administered graduate and undergraduate programs with a student enrollment of more than 6,500. Smith was responsible for establishing a number of business centers and partnerships, as well as an accelerated MBA program.

Prior to Fullerton, Smith was dean of the James J. Nance College of Business Administration at Cleveland State University from 1975 to 1990. He was responsible for the development of graduate programs, including a doctoral program, as well as administering seven graduate programs and several undergraduate programs.

Smith was also a faculty member and chair of the Department of Accounting at the University of Rhode Island, as well as dean of the School of Business at Shippensburg State College.

Smith earned a B.S. in accounting from Providence College, an M.S. in accounting from the University of Massachusetts, and a Ph.D. in accounting from the University of Illinois.

Kassing Named Interim at San Jose State

Don W. Kassing, who retired as president of San Jose State University in 2008, has been appointed as interim president of the university following the departure of Jon Whitmore who was recently named as CEO of ACT, Inc., an international not-for-profit corporation.

Kassing was president of San Jose State from 2005 to 2008, and had served in various capacities at the campus since 1993. He will assume the interim appointment on August 1, and will serve until a presidential search is completed in 2011.

Cal Poly SLO Presidential Search to Start Over

Following campus visits by the three finalists being considered as the new president of Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, and the June 2 interviews of the remaining two candidates by the CSU Board of Trustees, CSU Chancellor Charles B. Reed has recommended that the process start over with a new pool of candidates. The Board of Trustees has concurred with the chancellor’s recommendation.

“The Board of Trustees certainly respects the level of experience the candidates bring to the process, but ultimately, we must be confident that the next president be the right fit with the campus and the community,” said Reed. “In addition, we are competing to attract candidates within national presidential compensation levels that are often much higher than we are able to offer. This makes the search that much more difficult.”

A new pool of candidates for the presidential position will be considered beginning in the fall, and the search committee will restart the interview process. It is expected that an interim president will be appointed prior to the departure of retiring President Warren Baker, who has been president since 1979.