New diversity special assistant visits campus
Soon CSU President Larry Penley will not be the only
administration official with connections to both CSU and Arizona
State University.
Penley, who took over the president’s office in August 2003
after being the business dean at ASU, recently appointed a former
colleague to fill a new administration position.
John Lincoln will be the new special assistant to coordinate
diversity and improve enrollment management at CSU.
Penley’s appointment of Lincoln, the executive director of the
Office of Youth Preparation, Project PRIME and the American Indian
Institute at ASU to the position raised eyebrows around campus (see
letter to the editor on page 4).
The new position is one for which Penley posted no job
announcement and conducted no search or interview process before
hiring Lincoln.
A job announcement, followed by a search and interview process,
is a common practice for the appointment of high-level
administration officials in higher education. The process is not
required, however, for positions paid through the budget given to
the president’s office.
Lincoln’s annual salary will be $115,000, which will come from
the president’s office administrative budget.
“I am here to do my job. I will work very hard to accomplish the
goals of this university,” Lincoln said during his visit to campus
over Spring Break. “I am here because the president has asked me to
come here and help out with diversity and enrollment
management.”
Penley said the need for immediacy in filling the position and
Lincoln’s qualifications for the position were the factors he
considered when making the appointment.
“I was looking for somebody good and John is good,” Penley
said.
Lincoln’s fast-paced appointment is an advantage to CSU, Penley
said, because now his expertise in diversity and enrollment
management will begin to benefit CSU as soon as April 1, Lincoln’s
first official day on the job.
“It was my feeling that I needed to take some action to move
ahead because of the needs of enrollment management and the needs
of improving diversity,” Penley said. “I knew John Lincoln was very
well-qualified to do that.”
Lincoln’s job description will be to work with minority students
and faculty to improve campus diversity. He will also manage
enrollment in terms of high retention rates and better
recruitment.
Lincoln said there is a social class in America that has a
tradition of attending higher education institutions. There is also
a class that has no tradition of attending higher education. It is
this group of people in which Lincoln is interested.
“I’m concerned about how we find ways to bring kids of all
colors, of all classes, of all communities to have a chance to come
and be educated here at CSU,” he said. “Access is not my only
concern though. I also want to concentrate on what kind of
environment is needed to be in place for kids to have the best
chance to succeed here.”
Penley said Lincoln’s long career and experience in education,
which began in K-12 education and led to his 15-year duration with
ASU, will aid him at CSU.
“He has experience not only in college-level programs but also
in K-12,” Penley said. “He’s been a principal, so he can aid us in
the kind of outreach we need in high schools in helping build a
pipeline of a diverse set of students to come here.”
Talking to students as early as the eighth grade about college
opportunities at CSU is another goal of Lincoln’s.
“We need be talking to students very early on in their education
process to tell people how to prepare for (any given school or
department) at CSU,” Lincoln said. “We want them to be thinking
about what they want to be in their dreams and how they can best
accomplish it.”
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