By An open forum was held Monday in The Pointe at the Walter Pyramid to discuss what qualities students and faculty want to see in Cal State Long Beach’s next president.
At the forum, attendees were able to address the Trustees’ Committee for the Selection of the President (TCSP) and the Advisory Committee to the Trustees’ Committee for the Selection of the President (ACTCSP).
“We are here to listen intently to your thoughts, your aspirations and your worries,” Cal State University Chancellor Timothy P. White said. “Our task here is to find the best, not to find the best possible.”
According to CSU Spokesman Mike Uhlenkamp, Monday’s forum was the only scheduled open meeting in the presidential search process.
Since Monday’s forum only featured approximately 40 students and faculty, the CSU should schedule more open meetings.
Expecting much of the campus community to come to a 10 a.m forum on a Monday to voice its opinion is somewhat inconsiderate.
With work and classes, many interested students and faculty were likely not able to attend the meeting, and to deprive those interested in attending an open forum is unfair.
The number of people who attended the first forum cannot adequately represent the desires of the entire 35,000-member campus.
For more opinions to be heard, more forums need to be held.
Although Interim Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs David Dowell sent out a campus-wide email about the forum, there’s also a chance that students still weren’t aware of it.
Perhaps a multi-million dollar organization like Associated Students Inc. could help publicize the issue.
As it did with Proposition 30, ASI officials could help to inform students about the presidential search and advocate for future public forums.
The lack of more scheduled public forums adds to the problems of the closed presidential search process.
We agree that students and faculty shouldn’t have the right to directly select the president.
We do, however, believe our voices should be heard in more than just one open forum.
Although we applaud the CSU for holding Monday’s forum, we don’t think one is enough.
In order to satisfy the diversity and variety of opinions on campus, there need to be multiple forums at more convenient times.
Without more, we will contine to remain in the dark.
