Boxer leaves 'toughest job'

Vice president of Academic Affairs Marilyn Boxer announced to her staff on Monday that she will leave her post in August of 1996, after almost seven years in an undefined role in bridging the gap between California State University schools.

According to a staff memo announcing her departure, Boxer will head a "Northern California Center for Intercampus Collaboration" put together by CSU presidents from universities in northern California. Boxer's new job doesn't have a title yet.

"We're still discussing actual structure," Boxer said on Wednesday.

The memo said that the organization's goal is to "promote institutional cooperation and build consortial relationships for planning and delivery of academic programs." Boxer said that when the CSU schools are united, it's easier for them to request and secure government funds.

Boxer said that while she will still be employed by and affiliated with SF State, she will work out of SF State's downtown center. She said she needed a change in positions.

"My own belief is that after five or seven years, it's time to move to a different position," she said.

In May, there was talk of Boxer leaving SF State when she was one of three final candidates in the running for president of Queens College in New York. She didn't get the job.

English professor James Kohn, who worked with Boxer on SF State's Committee on Strategic Planning, said that Boxer will do well.

"I'm happy for her sake that she has found a way to utilize her strengths," Kohn said. "She (Boxer) was in on the early meetings of the committee. I think she had early reservations (about the committee's work), but we worked them out."

The memo said the new organization would build on the efforts of the committee to "create both internally and externally funded programs that link faculty, students, staff and administrators of multiple CSU campuses and other segments of higher education."

Boxer, a history and women studies professor, came to SF State in 1989 from San Diego State. She has co-authored one book and written numerous articles for educational journals and magazines.

According to Kohn, although there is a history of animosity between Boxer and some of the faculty, he feels she has overcome rocky early times.

"When she first started there was a lot of mistrust, but she worked hard to get closer to the faculty," Kohn said. "I think she's made progress. There is still faculty that find her manner off-putting, but she has done a lot to put the animosity behind her."

Rick Gutierrez, president of SF State's chapter of the California Faculty Association, had no comment about Boxer's position change.

Peter Dewees, dean of the College of Extended Learning, explained that animosity comes with Boxer's job.

"Vice president of Academic Affairs is the toughest job at the university, because it deals with faculty and the curriculum," Dewees said. "You have to be tough. I think she could do a good job (in the new position)."

Boxer said she had no idea who the university will promote to take her post in August. Her only recommendation is "that it's a person with a lot of energy."

[ Golden Gater Online October 5, 1995 ]

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