CSU-Pueblo’s Presidential Search Advisory Committee expects to find a new president for CSU-Pueblo as early as next semester to replace current Interim President Julio Leon.
The PSAC, established by the CSU System Board of Governors, has been searching for a new president for the university since its former president, Joe Garcia, announced his resignation after becoming lieutenant governor elect in November 2010. Leon has agreed to remain until a permanent president can be found.
The committee is composed of three members from the Board of Governors, two Pueblo community leaders and five CSU-Pueblo representatives including two faculty members, one student, one classified staff member and one administrative professional staff member. It is chaired by Dorothy Horrell, the vice chair of the Board of Governors.
The PSAC’s job is to recommend three unranked candidates to CSU’s Board of Governors, who will have the final decision on who will be the next president, in cooperation with the recommendations of CSU System Chancellor Joe Blake.
Alberto Pimentel, from Storbeck/Pimentel & Associates, a nonprofit executive search firm, was hired by the committee to help conduct the nationwide search. Pimentel’s firm is the same firm that conducted the presidential search that resulted in the hiring of Garcia.
The firm has recommended a number of candidates and the committee is getting ready to make its recommendations to the board.
“We have already conducted numerous interviews by Skype and hope to conduct on campus interviews and pare them down to finalists by mid-September,” said committee member Ralph Williams, a CSU-Pueblo alumni, local business man, and community leader.
The interviews will not be open to the public, however, constituent groups will be given the opportunity to meet the finalists, said Jennifer Mullen, a professor and current chair of the Department of Mass Communications and Center for New Media at CSU-Pueblo. Mullen will also be one of the faculty representatives on the PSAC.
The search suffered a couple setbacks when the previous two finalists, David Watts and Tim Hudson, withdrew from consideration in April to seek other positions. Two committee members, Bonifacio Coseyleon and Katherine Frank, resigned to seek other positions as well.
The timing of Garcia’s resignation made the search more challenging because most professionals in the field are not looking for jobs in the middle of the term and timing is important, Williams said. However, the committee is taking its time and has not set any official deadlines to ensure the right candidate is selected.
“This is just what you do when looking for a university president,” Williams said.
The overall the process has gone very well, Mullen said. “There are many outstanding candidates who want to be the next president of CSU-Pueblo,” she said.
