Colleagues,

With my recent appointment to serve as both president of our university and chancellor of the Colorado State University System, I will be making some changes to my administrative team to ensure we have the leadership we need in place both here on campus and at the System level.

I have asked Amy Parsons to move to the System office to serve as the Executive Vice Chancellor. Those of you who have been on campus for a while may recall that such a position existed previously, when President Emeritus Al Yates served in the dual role. Having a full-time, No. 2 person headquartered in Denver allows the Chancellor the ability to continue to effectively serve the System’s flagship institution while also ensuring smooth and consistent operations for the System. Amy has done a fantastic job for CSU, first as deputy general counsel and then as Vice President for University Operations, successfully overseeing an unprecedented period of construction and renovation of our physical campus, managing a series of complex special projects, leading our Ripple Effect initiative, and initiating significant improvements in the benefits and privileges afforded to CSU faculty and staff. She will be taking some portions of her portfolio with her into the Executive Vice Chancellor role, most notably continuing to oversee our engagement in Todos Santos and the National Western Center partnership. She will also remain the lead person responsible for the stadium construction through that project’s completion. In addition, in her new role, she will manage the day-to-day operations of the CSU System office, help with support around the Board of Governors and the management of Board meetings, assist me as needed with legislative relationships and activities, and work with me to coordinate and support the other System campuses and presidents.

I have also asked Lynn Johnson, our current Chief Financial Officer, to take on the role of Vice President for University Operations. Lynn has done an exceptional job as our CFO, and I’m confident she has the knowledge, integrity, and insight to excel in this role. As Rich Schweigert, the chief financial officer for the CSU System, transitions to retirement from this portion of his portfolio next January, Lynn will also take on the dual role of System CFO, in much the same way that our Provost and Executive Vice President Rick Miranda already serves as Chief Academic Officer for the System, with both reporting to me as the Chancellor.

To make the Vice President for University Operations portfolio here on campus more manageable as Lynn also take on System responsibilities, the CSU Police Department will shift from the Operations Division to a direct report to my Chief of Staff, Mark Gill. Mark previously helped oversee the police department when he was in the Provost’s Office, and he has strong experience leading our campus Public Safety Team.

One of my goals in accepting the position of Chancellor is to strive for as little disruption to our own campus as possible while also ensuring we have adequate staffing and representation at the System level — hopefully with some efficiencies to be obtained as well. I am grateful to Lynn, Amy, and Mark for their willingness to take on these additional duties, and I am confident that they will provide the consistent and effective leadership we need in these areas.

-tony

Dr. Tony Frank
President