The Lumberjack



Students Serving The Cal Poly Humboldt Campus and Community Since 1929

Tag: vp

  • HSU is in search of a new VP for Administration/Finance

    HSU is in search of a new VP for Administration/Finance

    In the third week of the spring semester, HSU held an open forum for the final four candidates for the vice president of administration and finance position. The school welcomed students, faculty and staff to join the live Zoom meetings to meet the finalists who were selected by the search committee.

    The vice president for administration and finance is responsible for reporting to the university president and in collaboration with colleagues across the campus, the incumbent is responsible for the administrative leadership, management, and oversight of the university’s division of administration and finance.

    Each candidate had one hour via Zoom to present their resumes, answer questions and explain their intended approach to the position.

    Candidate Sharooz Roohparvar elaborated on his transparency in handling school budgets and putting student interests first.

    “I believe that my position and everything in the institution is subject to public records requests, so there’s no reason for anybody to keep anything hidden,” Roohparvar said. “I start every conversation with how does this initiative serve students? And how does it improve that college going experience? Really at the end of the day, we’re here to serve those students.”

    Andrew Boyd, another contender, put an emphasis on his prior work at Humboldt State University in the design department, dealing with financing projects and environmental impact on campus.

    “There’s so many opportunities at Humboldt State to think creatively around how we set up the ecosystem and how to partner with the town of Arcata,” Boyd said. “Ideas for strategic planning or where we are in leaning into that is something that I think is critical for the growth of the institution is something that I would look to try to facilitate as a CFO.”

    Candidate Doreen Ferrington shared how her experience at John Hopkins School of Public Health in the dean’s office and as business operations officer at the Architect of the Capitol has led to her diversity in dealing with different groups including staff, students and faculty.

    “I had the opportunity to interact with a variety of individuals across the university and it enabled me to understand university operations and the pain points that each division was experiencing at that time,” Ferrington said. “I can reach out to faculty, I can talk to students, I can walk the hallway and talk to talk to the staff about their experiences. I can go to the cafeteria or the dorms and see what it’s like for the students to be on campus and I can engage.”

    Kathy J. Johnson, Vice President for Finance & Administration at Black Hills State University in Spearfish, South Dakota reiterated her understanding of the school systems and student success.

    “I’ve been a part of students earning nearly 12,000 degrees in my tenure. I love higher education and all the opportunity and hope it provides to the students.” Johnson said. “I lead the division, with full focus on students from ensuring they have the proper resources and learning materials available in the university bookstore. To the best technology infrastructure and classroom technology, we can afford a safe, clean, diverse, inclusive, and sustainable campus.”

    With HSU receiving $16 million in funding via the CARES Act, eyes are on the administration to use the money responsibly. $5 million has been allocated to students experiencing financial burden while the other $11 million is to be distributed in school funding for classes, faculty and staff.

    With the election of a new vice president for administration and finance, the candidatewho gets the job will be responsible for overseeing the distribution of funds to benefit the future of the school.

    “The funds are an incredible resource for our campus to enhance safety protocols, evolve instructional space and technology, expand student support, and improve operational efficiencies in ways which can innovate how we teach, learn, work and engage,” Sherie C. Gordon, Interim Vice President for Administration & Finance, said.

  • Letter to the Editor: HSU Did Not Violate California Law

    Letter to the Editor: HSU Did Not Violate California Law

    A letter from HSU’s vice president of Enrollment Management

    A letter from Humboldt State University Vice President of Enrollment Management Jason Meriwether follows:

    Wednesday, April 22, 2020

    James Wilde, Editor & Reporter
    Grace Caswell, Editor & Reporter
    The Lumberjack Newspaper
    Humboldt State University 

    Dear James and Grace,

    Please accept this letter (also enclosed) in response to the Lumberjack Article titled, Humboldt State Violated California Law by Requiring Registration for a Public Meeting, which was published on April 16, 2020.  

    While you were copied on a series of emails to me, and thus, on my responses, there are still a few important facts that I believe you will find useful in the wake of the April 16thstory.  Since my email was the source of the quotes by me in the article, I never had an opportunity to answer a couple of fundamental questions as you prepared for your story.  As such, I ask you to please consider the following:

    The University did not violate California Law.  

    When I received the original email, which copied numerous parties, Vice President Dawes and I took immediate action to verify that HSU was not in violation of the law.  This included going into consultation with other university stakeholders, including legal counsel.  This consultation reassured us that no violation of policy or law was taking place.  

    In particular, I urge you to please review the actual requirements of the Bagley-Keene Act.  First, please review a guidance document provided by the State’s Attorney General which outlines the scope of Bagley-Keene.  Most pertinent to this issue, the Bagley-Keene requirements at issue apply only to meetings of a statutorily defined “state body” (Section 11121) that do not apply to the informal meetings hosted by VP Dawes and me.  As explained in Section 11121 and in the guide from the State’s Attorney General, the sessions that were hosted do not fall within the scope of Bagley-Keene, which, based on guidance from legal counsel, means this law does not apply and was not broken.  

    With respect to the Brown Act, which was also referred to in the series of emails and in your article, this statute applies to local government agencies and essentially stands as a counterpart to Bagley-Keene, so to speak.  The California State University, in particular Humboldt State, is a state agency, which does not fall under the Brown Act.  Because Humboldt State, as a part of the CSU, is not subject to the Brown Act, legal counsel has advised us that the law was not broken.  

    Why did we add a public link to the originally scheduled presentations?

    We did so to eliminate any perceived barriers to participation.  As quoted in the story from one of my emails, “the entire point of the meetings was to be transparent.”  

    While we were fully aware that we were compliant with the law and that no persons were being barred from the meeting, the very notion that we were trying to keep people out, even though it was false and based on an incorrect interpretation of the law, compelled us to add an extra way to view the meeting.  In our perspective, if any person felt uncomfortable or interpreted the registration function as a barrier, then adding the extra link made sense.   In total, over 300 members of the university, media, and local community attended both meetings, and not a single person was excluded.  The zoom webinar function was not sought out as a barrier, but as the best way to allow so many people to receive the information at hand.  Registration for this meeting was not like a conference presentation or an event with limited access or hidden behind a paid wall.  Many instructors and students are using zoom for class and the majority, if not all, meetings and presentations are held over zoom.  We sent the information out to the entire campus, it was posted on the public events website, and we did not deny access to anyone.  Simply stated, because we could not have a meeting in the Great Hall or KBR, a zoom meeting appeared to be the best option to make sure that this important information was shared with the campus.   

    To be candid, the public webinars were not an attempt at secrecy.  Any notion to the contrary is simply false.  In our belief, these sessions were about being honest with the campus and sharing data that impacts everyone.  Making the report and data available online and readily sharing it with the media, students, faculty, and all interested parties was also necessary.  Personally, I can assure you that it would have been easier to not conduct public presentations about such a negative set of projections, but in fact, the public presentations were the right thing to do.   

    The first person to receive a copy of my report was a journalist from the Lumberjack who received the report even before my first public presentation to the University Senate.  The Senate presentation was also via zoom and on the same day I met with the student journalist.  This information has been presented to Associated Students, the University Senate, the University Planning and Resource Committee, and in two public meetings.  The report has also been cited by the media and directly provided to reporters who requested it.  These actions do not align with any intention to violate the law or fail in transparency.  

    In conclusion, I am committed to the voice of students through journalism, which I believe has been demonstrated during my first year at Humboldt State.  That commitment will not change.  To that end, my commitment to providing facts, information, and access to student journalists has also been demonstrated.  Accordingly, I ask that you please review the information and facts above and please weigh against the information that was provided to you and the information that was published in the article.   

    Thank you for your consideration.  

    Sincerely Yours,

    Dr. Jason L. Meriwether

    Vice President of Enrollment Management

    Humboldt State University

    Ralph M. Brown Act
    https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displayText.xhtml?lawCode=GOV&division=2.&title=5.&part=1.&chapter=9. 

    Bagley-Keene Act’s Section 11121 https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displayText.xhtml?lawCode=GOV&division=3.&title=2.&part=1.&chapter=1.&article=9.

    Attorney General’s Bagley-Keene Act Fact Sheet

    https://oag.ca.gov/sites/all/files/agweb/pdfs/publications/bagleykeene2004_ada.pdf