Cal State Long Beach held forums to find a director of equity and diversity following the departure of Perrin Reid.
Reid left in February to become executive assistant to the chancellor of the Los Angeles Community College District, according to university officials.
She worked as the director for almost seven years.
An estimated 40 applicants were narrowed down to three finalists who were announced in a campus-wide email sent Aug. 5 by Scott Apel, chair of the Equity and Diversity Search Committee.
Ultimately, President F. King Alexander will make the final decision. Although there is no set date for his decision, some officials said it was expected to come soon.
According to the email, the three candidates are Linda Nolan from Cal State East Bay, Larisa Hamada from Pepperdine University and Kirk Rascoe from the University of South Florida.
Apel was reluctant to discuss the qualifications of the candidates due to privacy considerations, but mentioned that one factor in their selection was experience.
Finalists currently hold an equivalent job at their respective campuses.
At CSULB, the job is a full-time staff position that reports directly to the president and has an advertised salary of “$105,000 per year, depending on experience and qualifications,” according to the job posting.
The Office of Equity and Diversity oversees compliance with vast areas of federal, state and CSU-wide civil rights and nondiscrimination policy and law.
The office also investigates allegations of sexual harassment involving university employees, monitors campus policy related to the Americans with Disabilities Act, and serves as policy counsel on numerous committees.
“This office is obligated to be impartial, that means we have no vested interest in the outcome of a complaint that favors the university nor that favors the complainant,” Interim Director Jan Reyes said. “We do fact finding. This is not a court of law.”
Reyes has been the acting director, despite officially retiring on June 1.
Reyes is currently holding down two positions in the office as director and as office manager while working limited hours during what is technically her retirement.
“I haven’t popped the champagne bottle yet,” she said jokingly.
Reyes described her nearly 33 years at CSULB and recalled her relationship with Reid, whom she described as a fan of artist Diego Rivera and as a person who was “firm, when she needed to be, yet sensitive when it called for that as well.”
“She and I share our origins on the metropolitan New York area, that helped,” she said and laughed. “Sometimes we could be very direct with each other, and with others.”
Reyes reflected that CSULB is unique from other universities because it is “highly decentralized” so that “there are that many more people to work with one-on-one.”
“It’s been my experience that this has always been a decentralized campus,” she said, “Vice-presidents have a great deal of authority and in many respects autonomy.”
Looking forward, Reyes said the new director will face a steep learning curve. She said the director will have to display sensitivity while reaching out to the community and building relationships.
She said, “I think you have to have a great deal of sensitivity, and understand that perception is reality.”
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