Gov. Jerry Brown has appointed two new members to the Cal State University Board of Trustees: Lupe Garcia from Alameda and Hugo Morales from Fresno.
To officially join the Board, both Garcia and Morales must wait for California State Senate confirmation, which could take up to a year, CSU Spokesman Erik Fallis said.
The new appointees, however, will serve on the Board until the Senate makes its decision.
Only Morales, who serves as the adjunct professor for the La Raza Program at Cal State University Fullerton, has direct experience with the CSU system. Neither of the trustees attended a CSU for their degrees.
“Very typically, even if they had not had direct experience … in different capacities they are in contact with the CSU,” Fallis said.
According to Brown’s statement, Garcia, 43, has worked as a lawyer for Gap Inc. since 1999. She earned a law degree at the San Francisco University of Law and has been involved in the Ethics and Compliance Officer Association and the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area.
Since 1980, Morales has served as executive director for Radio Bilingüe Inc., a Latino news station that serves the Hispanic community of Northern California.
California Faculty Association communications specialist Brian Ferguson said Morales’ experience with the Latino community will benefit the CSU because most of the CSU student population is of Hispanic descent.
Even though students, faculty and the Board do not have a direct say in the appointment of new trustees, CFA recognizes Garcia and Morales’ diverse backgrounds.
CFA supports the decision that Gov. Brown has made, Ferguson said.
“Most of the time, we agree with his choice,” he said. “Many people on the existing Board of Trustees don’t have education experience. We think these two people have good backgrounds.”
The Board still has five additional vacancies to fill, including a student trustee position. According to Fallis, finding another student voice is top priority, but there is no urgency to fill the other positions.
“The timing of that is subject to the governor,” Fallis said.
Whether or not the new trustees will serve on the search committee for the next chancellor is uncertain. The eight-member committee is to make a recommendation for the next chancellor, Fallis said.
However, if a recommendation is put forward, then the whole Board, including Morales and Garcia, will vote on the candidate.