New CSUN Leader Urged to Start Early

Saying the school’s money problems require immediate attention, some Cal State Northridge faculty members have started a letter-writing campaign urging the newly designated president to take office before her announced starting date in September.

“We think that the campus is adrift and with all due respect to the president . . . we think it’s urgent that we have a president who is fully in control of things and as soon as possible,” Albert Baca, faculty president, said in an interview.

Blenda J. Wilson, currently chancellor of the University of Michigan at Dearborn, was named earlier this week to succeed President James W. Cleary, who retires next month.

In a previous interview with The Times, Wilson said she hoped to stay at the Michigan campus through August, which would enable her to participate in that school’s budget process and fulfill other obligations.

Some faculty members had hoped the new president would take charge immediately to deal with the prospect of severe budget cuts that may cause massive layoffs and eliminate hundreds of classes.

Last week, the Faculty Senate passed a resolution asking Cleary to declare the school in a state of emergency and create a special committee to take charge of all campus finances, but Cleary refused, saying he did not want to “tie the hands” of the incoming president.

The statement by Wilson that she might not begin work until September left many in the faculty “concerned, disappointed and somewhat depressed,” Baca said.

The letter-writing campaign was a “spontaneous response” designed to encourage Wilson to “rethink her plans so that she can come to our campus as soon as possible,” Baca said.

Selase W. Williams, chairman of the Pan-African studies department, said faculty members will also urge the president-designate to adopt the emergency resolution. “I think most of the letters are going to be urging the president not only to endorse but to implement . . . that resolution,” he said.

Williams said the heads of various departments were sending a joint letter. Other individuals and campus organizations will also send letters, Baca said.

Mike Payne, a student senator, said that students were also concerned about Wilson’s starting date and the Student Senate will deal with the issue when it meets again in June. “A lot of things are happening now and we would have hoped she would have been here to get things rolling sooner,” Payne said.

But another senator, Bruce Najbergier, said that Wilson should not be compelled to take office until she feels she’s ready. “I don’t know if that’s really fair to her,” he said. “No one is going to wave a magic wand and make it go away,” he said of the budget crisis.

Wilson had not seen any of the letters and declined to comment on the letter-writing campaign, but she understands the frustration of the faculty, said University of Michigan spokesman Steve Wasko. “She hears that and she understands it,” he said.

Wasko said it is “not at all unusual for there to be a period” of several months before a president-elect assumes office. But even if Wilson starts in September, she could still play a role in critical issues on campus this summer, he said.

“It’s very common for a president-elect to make frequent trips to the campus which they will be leading to participate in discussions of major policy issues,” he said.

Wasko said Wilson is still discussing her arrival date with Cleary and California State University System Chancellor Barry Munitz.

Though they would like to have her on campus sooner, some faculty members say they are still optimistic about the new president and confident in her abilities.

“Many of us are ecstatic about the new president coming on campus and we want to be sure that we don’t overwhelm or burn out the president before she even gets here,” Williams said. “She’s going to need to have a chance to study the issues and study the implications of the budget cuts and decide what kind of strategy she wants to implement.”