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Senate denies approval of BOT chairman

Three openings are now left on the Cal State University Board of Trustees after Chairman Herbert Carter was not confirmed by the California Senate on Tuesday.

Carter needed a two-thirds majority approval by the Senate, but, when Republicans indicated they would not give the votes needed, Democratic leaders did not go forward with the vote. 

Gov. Jerry Brown reappointed Carter in 2011. Trustees have up to a year to be confirmed by the Senate. Today would mark the last day for Carter but the Senate will not meet.

“He has worked in the past with the CSU,” said Erik Fallis, a CSU spokesman. “It’s unfortunate he won’t be serving with us. He has been part of the university system for decades now.”

Carter will not be serving on the board for its next meeting on March 20. Instead, the BOT will vote on a new chair and vice chair, and Vice Chair Robert Linschied will become the acting chair.

Members of the BOT serve different terms depending on how they came to be a part of the BOT, according to Fallis. There are student and alumni trustees recommended by various groups like the Academic Senate and the California State Student Association. These trustees serve two-year terms.

Other trustees are appointed because of the role they serve in California government, Fallis said. This group comprises the majority of the board and serves an eight-year term. Carter was part of this group.

Carter was on the board when they voted in July 2011 for a $100,000 salary increase for new San Diego State President Elliot Hirshman, and approved a 12 percent tuition increase in the same meeting.

Carter also proposed a new policy stating that any new president cannot make no more than 10 percent above his or her predecessor.

Chancellor Charles B. Reed said in a statement that Carter had been a “tireless” supporter of the CSU.

“His decisions have always been made by putting students first, and it is extremely disappointing that his nomination to the Board of Trustees would be subject to political circumstances,” Reed said. “To deny the confirmation of a person that has done so much on behalf of the CSU is incomprehensible.”

  

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