California higher education hangs in the balance as UC, Cal State search for new leaders
In a rare confluence that will shape the future of California higher education, the state's two top university jobs are open, high-profile vacancies that position its leaders as national pacesetters because of the size and status of the two systems.
The dual searches at the University of California and California State University have generated a daunting list of desired job qualifications. The new chiefs will be expected to figure out how to meet enormous admission demands, increase student diversity, raise academic achievement, lower costs, secure stable sources of money and deal with fierce politics. All this while improving the quality and prestige of two of the nation's most popular and renowned public university systems.
And this must be accomplished with limited state funding and salaries well below their comparable peers.
"They probably are two of the most important institutions on the planet in terms of their role and mission," said Michael Crow, president of Arizona State University who is viewed as one of the
