Student seat not included in trustee appointments

Kristi Garrett
The State Hornet
Published November 18, 1999

LONG BEACH - Two new appointments to the CSU Board of Trustees were announced Tuesday, but the student trustee position remains vacant five months into the term.

Gov. Gray Davis appointed Roberta Achtenberg and Debra S. Farar to the CSU governing body at this week's meetings in Long Beach. Achtenberg, 49, is a senior vice president for public policy at the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce. Farar, 50, served as a senior adviser on education policy for Lt. Gov. Davis.

A staff member in the governor's office said there is no information that the student trustee appointment is forthcoming.

The extended vacancy has resulted in a lapse of student representation and participation at the highest levels of CSU policy-making, said Stephanie Rahlfs, chair of the California State Student Association.

This week, trustees selected a new president for the Northridge campus and reviewed possible ways to tighten admissions criteria and remediation efforts in anticipation of a surge of enrollment over the next 10 years.

Although trustees are receptive to input from CSSA members during board meetings, Rahlfs said it's not the same as having a student trustee on the board.

"Most actual policy-making doesn't occur at the (boardroom) table, but in work groups, retreats, conversation over dinner or a comment in an elevator. That's where policies start."

Policy changes that affect student access are a priority for CSSA, Rahlfs said.

"My big concern is that new enrollment policies could change the mission of the university. It's always been the people's university."

Although CSSA recommends the candidates for student trustee, a student, once appointed as a trustee, must take a broader perspective on CSU issues, said trustee Ralph Pesqueira. He has seen student trustees oppose CSSA's position at times.

"Once a trustee, they're involved in making policy ... they're there to make sure the student position is given a fair airing, not to lobby strictly for students," he said.

However, Pesqueira said the importance of a student voice on the board is not to be underrated.

"Student (trustees) have been very, very good team players. They've brought with them a perspective most of us don't even think about," he said. "The student trustee is a very important position. There have been some that have added so much. We don't look to CSSA to do that."

Nevertheless, Pesqueira said trustees recently have been communicating with CSSA more than in years past. "The more we learn about them the more we understand their position. And the more they learn about us, the more they support our policies."

The CSSA nominating committee interviewed student trustee candidates and forwarded three names to the governor on April 26 to allow prompt replacement of trustee Eric Mitchell, whose term ended in June.

The nominees are Mette Adams from Sonoma State, Lisa Barnicoat and Neel Nurarka, both from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo.

Ivan Pierce, chair of the CSSA legislative affairs committee, is anxious for a student trustee to be appointed.

"We're left out of the process of developing the agenda," said Pierce. "We’ve spent all this time seeking a second student trustee, and now we haven't even got one."

The governor has already signed AB 213, which created a second student trustee position. The second trustee will vote only in the second year of a two-year term. The search for the second trustee is due to begin shortly.

Student trustee appointments are effective immediately, whereas the appointments of Achtenberg and Farar, who will serve 8-year terms, must be confirmed by the state Senate.

Rahlfs saw a significant difference between making recommendations to the board and actually having a vote.

"While CSSA sits in on board meetings, we lack the closeness a student trustee would have," she said. "By the time (an issue) comes to the board table, policy has already been made. It's so important to have someone involved with that process."