Capitol Alert: CSU names head of UC Riverside as new chancellor

California State University trustees have picked a leader from the state's other public university system to replace outgoing chancellor Charles Reed.

Timothy P. White, who heads the University of California's Riverside campus, will take the top position in the Cal State system, overseeing 23 campuses that serve 427,000 students and employ 44,000 faculty and staff.

White, 63, has been in charge of UC Riverside since 2008. During his time there the campus established new graduate schools - in public policy and medicine - and served more minority students than any other UC campus.

"We are grateful to appoint a chancellor with Tim White's commitment to reaching out to underserved students that was initiated by Chancellor Reed," CSU Trustee Bill Hauck said in a statement. "Tim has experienced firsthand the powerful impact of higher education, and has the leadership qualities to guide the system through these fiscally challenging times."

White is scheduled to start the new position at the end of December. His salary will be the same as Reed's: $421,500 plus a $30,000 supplement from CSU foundations.

UC President Mark G. Yudof released a statement saying that White's position at Cal State means UC "will continue to have a well-placed partner and ally in the fight to preserve public higher education in California."

Yudof said he will soon appoint an interim chancellor for UC Riverside and launch a search to find a permanent replacement.

CSU officials did not announce who else they considered for the job. The Bee reported earlier this year that state Treasurer Bill Lockyer had expressed interest.

White replaces Reed, who is retiring after 14 years at the head of the CSU system where he says he's signed more than a million diplomas. In the early years of Reed's tenure, CSU was in expansion mode and added 100,000 students. The last few years, however, have been marked by deep cuts in state funding, protests over rising tuition, controversies over administrative pay and discord with employee unions.