Longtime Cal State Educator to Lead CSUN

Jolene Koester, an educator known for forging strong relationships between faculty and administrators, was named president Tuesday of Cal State Northridge.

The 51-year-old provost and vice president of academic affairs at Cal State Sacramento brings a stated desire for academic diversity and an intimate knowledge of the California State University system to the job. She will lead the San Fernando Valley’s only four-year university and, with 27,000 students, its largest educational institution.

Koester, who has spent her entire administrative career at Cal State Sacramento, will be the fourth president of CSUN and one of only three female presidents in the 23-campus system. She will replace Blenda J. Wilson, who left CSUN in June to head a Massachusetts education foundation.

“I’m just thrilled to have the opportunity to work at this university,” Koester said Tuesday at the California State University Board of Trustees meeting. “I am very committed to the CSU and its mission, and Northridge is an exemplar of that mission of access for the students of the San Fernando Valley.”

She will assume the post at a time when Cal State Northridge faces the challenges of burgeoning enrollment, remedial education, fund-raising and public image.

Koester was one of two finalists after two others dropped out Friday. Her only competition during final interviews Monday with the Board of Trustees was Antoine Garibaldi, provost and chief academic officer of Howard University in Washington, D.C.

“It was the closest call that you could have,” said Chancellor Charles B. Reed.

The trustees interviewed the candidates for two hours and deliberated an additional hour.

“When you added everything up,” Reed said, “Jolene had a slight advantage because of her inside knowledge of our system.”

Koester said she will visit the campus today to address faculty members and students. Her salary and starting date have not yet been determined.

The daughter of an auto mechanic in tiny Plato, Minn., Koester was the first in her family to earn a college degree. Her parents had to work on farms and never finished high school, yet they stressed education for Koester and her four siblings, she said.

“Coming from a working-class family provided for me a firsthand experience of the power of higher education to transform an individual,” she said.

Koester earned her bachelor’s degree from the University of Minnesota and received a Fulbright Scholarship to study in India during her junior year: It was her first airplane trip. The experience sparked her interest in intercultural communication, a field in which she is now regarded as a national expert.

Koester earned a master’s degree from the University of Wisconsin in Madison and a doctorate from the University of Minnesota. She is the author of dozens of academic books and articles.

Koester joined the faculty of Cal State Sacramento in 1983 and has since earned a Fulbright Fellowship to study in Malaysia and served in various administrative positions. She has been provost and vice president since 1993.

Among her first duties, Koester said, will be to build strong links with businesses and organizations in the San Fernando Valley. Cal State Northridge has long been criticized as too insular.

She also plans to sort out any remaining problems with the athletics program, which has experienced a number of scandals over the past two years. Koester also said she will evaluate a plan to build a new stadium on the North Campus. Neighbors have complained that stadium events would create too much noise, and have threatened to sue the university if the structure is built.

Koester said she will attempt to fill several key administrative positions that have been filled on an interim basis, including the vice presidencies of administration and finance, and student affairs.

Louanne Kennedy, who has been serving as interim president since June, will return to her position as provost and vice president of academic affairs.

Kennedy, who has worked with Koester in the past, praised her organizational skills and vision.

“She’ll be able to take the campus to the next level,” Kennedy said. “I have enormous respect for her and I’m excited that the trustees had enough confidence in her to give her this position.”

Cal State trustee Ralph R. Pesqueira said there was little doubt in his mind that she would gain the position.

“She’s been a president-in-training for a lot of years,” he said.

Pesqueira and the chancellor said hiring Koester was a signal to other senior administrators within the Cal State University system. “This sends a message out that we are willing to recommend and hire our own and that it’s important for our presidents to be part of a mentoring process.”

Cal State Sacramento President Donald R. Gerth said Koester is well-liked on campus and has had many successes, notably a new remedial education plan and the division and streamlining of academic programs.

Faculty leaders praised Koester’s integrity and have called her a strong leader, who consults various constituencies on a regular basis.

In an unrelated matter, Gov. Gray Davis on Tuesday appointed Debra S. Farar and Roberta Achtenberg to two of five openings on the Cal State system’s 24-member Board of Trustees.

Farar, a Calabasas resident, was an education policy advisor to Davis when he was lieutenant governor. She also serves on the board overseeing the Funds for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education and on the grant advisory committee of the California Student Aid Commission. Achtenberg is a senior vice president of the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce and former assistant secretary of U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

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Jolene Koester

* Age: 51

* Current position: Provost and vice president for academic affairs at Cal State Sacramento since 1993.

* Prior positions: Vice president and other executive positions in academic affairs at CSU Sacramento since 1989. Joined the faculty there in 1983 as a professor of communication studies, a position she still holds.

* Education: Bachelor’s degree in liberal arts from the University of Minnesota, master’s in communications arts from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and doctorate in speech communications from Minnesota.

* Accomplishments: Fulbright Scholar and author of several academic books and articles on intercultural and interpersonal communication; served on systemwide committees on Cornerstones (the CSU strategic plan), budget and accountability, and teacher preparation. The Minnesota native chaired CSU Sacramento’s NCAA accreditation study and was president of the Western States Communication Assn.