Nationwide Search for New CSUCI Chief Begun

Cal State trustees formally launched a nationwide search Wednesday for president of Ventura County’s public university, creating a committee to find a replacement for outgoing administrator Handel Evans.

Governing board Chairman Laurence K. Gould will be joined by Trustees William D. Campbell, Debra S. Farar and Robert Foster on the panel charged with filling the top job at Cal State Channel Islands, planned to open in fall 2002.

The committee will expand in coming weeks to include CSU faculty, staff members, students and alumni.

Gould said he hopes to have a permanent president in place by next summer, giving the new administrator plenty of time to hire faculty for the campus and help shape the curriculum before the university opens.

“We intend to take a broad-based approach to finding the right person for this campus,” Gould said. “We want to have a president who is involved in the community, who establishes deep roots and who can make a long-term commitment to continuing the legacy that has already been created.”

Evans, who has been the driving force behind the creation of the Channel Islands campus south of Camarillo, will continue as president until his successor takes up residence at the new university.

As planning president, his mission was to get the campus off the ground. With that job complete, Evans announced earlier this month that he had decided to step down.

Trustees said they don’t want to form any preconceived ideas about who the next president should be. But they agree that it is essential to find someone who can continue to build on the momentum that has been generated in support of the local campus.

“When we open those doors, we want to have someone in place who will be able to build from that point on,” Campbell said. “Now is a very natural, appropriate time to choose the person who will be there for the next decade.”