Search Updates
June 2, 2020
Dear Cal Lutheran Community: 
I am very pleased to announce that Lori E. Varlotta, PhD, will serve as the eighth
president of California Lutheran University.
The first woman president in Cal Lutheran’s 61-year history, Dr. Varlotta will begin
her official duties on Sept. 30.
Coming to us from Hiram College where she has served as president since 2014, Dr.
Varlotta will bring proven inclusive leadership skills, a deep commitment to the liberal
arts and sciences, and a talent for engaging unified support for Cal Lutheran’s mission.
As a president, she has helped her teams surpass record fundraising goals and monitor
budgets that led Hiram to its strongest financial position in recent history. Her
leadership resulted in an enrollment growth plan that sparked several nationally recognized
initiatives in innovative learning and mindful technology. And as a champion of shared
governance, she has built structures that facilitate faculty, staff and student input
into decision-making processes.
Before coming to Hiram College, Dr. Varlotta spent 11 years at Sacramento State,
ultimately serving as senior vice president of planning, enrollment management and
student affairs. She led 31 departments in the areas of enrollment, student life,
retention, educational equity, and NCAA Division I athletics. She has also held leadership
roles at University of Wisconsin-Whitewater and University of San Francisco.
She has published extensively on pertinent higher education topics ranging from inclusion
and accountability to service and leadership. More recently, her research has focused
on leading difficult processes that bring systemic and cultural changes to life.
During her 35-year academic career, she has tackled pressing issues such as retention
and graduation rates; planning and budgeting; assessment and transparency; health
and wellness; student life and athletics. She has had significant successes in increasing
diversity among students, faculty and staff.
A Pittsburgh native and first-generation college graduate, Dr. Varlotta earned a
Bachelor of Arts in philosophy at the University of Notre Dame, a Master of Science
in cultural foundations of education from Syracuse University, and an interdisciplinary
Doctor of Philosophy in educational leadership and feminist philosophy from Miami
University (Ohio).
Along with her higher education service, Dr. Varlotta enjoys long alpine hikes, cross-country
skiing and preparing spicy Pan-Asian dishes with her husband, Eric Premack.
The coming months will be a time of active transition as we recommit to building
a university ready to move to even greater levels of accomplishment and innovation.
During that time, we look forward to reopening all of our campuses and celebrating
major milestones with the inauguration of our new Swenson Science Center. Dr. Varlotta’s
proven leadership and experience in higher education will be crucial to Cal Lutheran’s
success in educating students and prioritizing the well-being of our community.
Thank you for helping me welcome Dr. Varlotta as we start the next chapter in Cal
Lutheran’s history and work together as a unified team toward our goals of greater
inclusion, innovation and investment.
Sincerely,
Susie Lundeen-Smuck '88
Chair, Board of Regent
May 21, 2020
Dear Cal Lutheran Community,
We are pleased to announce that the Presidential Search Committee submitted its formal
recommendation to the Board of Regents regarding the appointment of the next president
of Cal Lutheran.
The committee made its recommendation after extensive deliberations and the evaluation
of all the information gathered over the many months since the search began. This
information included survey feedback from the virtual meetings held with the three
finalists during the week of May 4. Multiple groups of students, faculty, staff, cabinet
members, Regents and Convocators participated in these meetings. More than 50 people
served the University by offering discerning questions while getting to know each
of the candidates both personally and professionally during this third round of interviews.
The Board of Regents, the hiring authority for the president, will consider the committee’s
work, conduct additional due diligence and enter into contract negotiations. Once
those negotiations are complete and a formal offer is accepted, the Board will make
a public announcement introducing the new president. A careful and supportive transition
process will then begin.
President Kimball has consented to extend his term until August 31, 2020 in support
of the planned transition and to help ensure ample time for its success.
The committee wishes to thank everyone who aided in this confidential selection process
by contributing their time, their perspective and their involvement (see accompanying
roster for details) and certainly those who conveyed their thoughtful sentiments for
a successful search along the way.
This has been an extensive yet rewarding process, and the campus community is to
be lauded for its adherence to confidentiality and its understanding of the need for
it. The entire committee is confident that this process soon will yield an outstanding
new leader for Cal Lutheran.
Sincerely,
Bill Camarillo
Co-Chair, Presidential Search Committee
Board of Regents
Randy Foster,
Co-Chair, Presidential Search Committee
Board of Regents
April 24, 2020
Dear Cal Lutheran Community,
We are pleased to announce that the Presidential Search Committee has invited three
highly regarded executives, all of whom have the attributes and skills that we desire
for our new president, to a third and final round of interviews.
The interviews, conversations and campus tours will all take place virtually during
the week of May 4. A select group of constituents who are not on the committee will
be invited to participate in a confidential series of conversations with the candidates.
The students, faculty members and regents were selected by their respective governing
bodies. The administrators and staff members were chosen by the committee from nominations
it received. Each of these persons will make the same commitment to confidentiality
as the search committee. These conversations with constituent groups will enable us
to expand the number of people involved in the search process while protecting the
confidentiality of candidates, which has become even more important as universities
deal with the COVID-19 crisis.
The three finalists were selected by a unanimous vote of the committee after the
second round of interviews. Those invited back for a second interview had gone through
a diligent vetting process, including background checks and reference interviews.
Conducted via Zoom, these interviews explored the candidates’ abilities to advance
the University’s priorities of innovation, investment and inclusion. We also asked
them to address the current pandemic’s likely impact on higher education, particularly
institutions like Cal Lutheran. We spent significant time ascertaining their perspectives
on the challenges and opportunities brought by this new paradigm. Over the years,
Cal Lutheran has been confronted with many challenges that have led to a stronger,
more cohesive campus community. We are looking for a president who can guide us, once
again, to respond with resilience and resourcefulness.
At the conclusion of the third round of interviews, the search committee will select
one finalist, who then will be presented to the Board of Regents for its review and
consideration.
We have been enormously blessed by the full participation of the Presidential Search
Committee in evaluating the many high-caliber candidates who wanted to lead Cal Lutheran. We
have worked hard together, we have learned together, and we have grown together. It
has been an honor for all of us to serve Cal Lutheran through this extraordinarily
important process. We are confident that the result will be strong, visionary and
engaging leadership for the University.
Sincerely,
Bill Camarillo
Co-Chair, Presidential Search Committee
Board of Regents
Randy Foster,
Co-Chair, Presidential Search Committee
Board of Regents
March 25, 2020
Dear Cal Lutheran Community,
During these times of uncertainty and change related to COVID-19, the work of Cal
Lutheran’s Presidential Search Committee has continued. We write today to update you on the progress over the past
several weeks.
Committee members participated in a three-hour session with Dr. Estela Bensimon of
USC's Center for Urban Education. We benefited significantly, acquiring a better
understanding of the key aspects of diversity, equity and inclusion. We learned about
identifying and appreciating racial identity, determining the value of disaggregated
data, questioning historical practices and being intentional about racial equity.
This work informed the questions and the conduct of our initial interviews and equipped
our committee for bringing an equity lens to the work that is ahead in the presidential search process.
On Feb. 24, the committee met to identify whom from the pool of more than 100 applicants
to advance to initial interviews. We are happy to report that all of those invited
to participate accepted our invitation. It was an impressive group of extremely talented
and experienced leaders. Several of the candidates in this top tier well represent
the diversity, equity and inclusivity we value.
The committee conducted the initial interviews over two days just over a week ago
in Los Angeles. The interviews consisted of a series of questions uniformly presented
to each candidate. The questions covered a wide range of topics including transformative
leadership, strategic planning, HSI designation, community collaboration, partnerships
with external agencies, student recruitment and retention, Lutheran identity and alternate
funding options.
At the conclusion of those interviews, the committee identified a shortened list of
candidates to advance for initial reference checking, the gathering of additional
information from the candidates and performing deeper due diligence associated with
presidential searches. The committee is presently engaged in this work and will meet in early April to
review the results and determine which candidates will advance to a second stage of
interviews. We are excited about the candidates who are advancing in this search.
Out of an abundance of caution, the committee has been taking precautions in regard
to COVID-19 and plans to fully utilize electronic methods of communication for the
next round of talks while maintaining candidate anonymity throughout the process.
We anticipate concluding the process in late spring or early summer, in advance of
President Kimball's departure. We will provide details of the transition timeline
in the coming weeks.
Mindful of the challenges facing our campus community at this time, we want to express
our thanks. We are grateful for the service of campus leadership as they coordinate
our response in areas such as student housing, enhanced online instruction, continuous
communication and, certainly, for their unrelenting dedication to this university’s
mission and preservation. As well, we are grateful for all that faculty, staff and
students are doing to help and serve each other so that everyone can stay focused
on our commitment to serve students.
Know that we remain committed to the important task that the Board of Regents has
entrusted to our committee. We all share the goal of finding an outstanding leader
for Cal Lutheran who will lead us forward in the years to come.
Sincerely,
Bill Camarillo
Co-Chair, Presidential Search Committee
Board of Regents
Randy Foster
Co-Chair, Presidential Search Committee
Board of Regents
February 5, 2020
Dear California Lutheran University Colleagues & Community,
As all of you know, President Kimball shared with the Board of Regents and the campus
community that this will be his final year as our leader. In early November, the Board
of Regents engaged Academic Search to serve as our partners for the search to find
a great new leader for California Lutheran University. This was followed by the selection
of a search committee to help lead this work. The committee developed a search prospectus
to showcase Cal Lutheran and serve as a leadership profile for the next president.
The search was formally launched the week of December 16 in a variety of online advertising
venues, including the Chronicle of Higher Education, Inside Higher Ed, and HigherEdJobs.
A print ad was run in the Chronicle of Higher Education in the January 10, 2020 edition.
Academic Search has reached out to their network of presidents, provosts, and other
vice presidents at colleges and universities across the U.S., including the ELCA Colleges
and Universities, the New American Colleges group, institutions that are designated
as Hispanic-Serving Institutions, and all California colleges and universities. Response
to the outreach has been very strong. Cal Lutheran is respected and admired, and the
post is attractive for many reasons – respect for President Kimball and his leadership,
sense of institutional momentum and growth, and location and demographics in Ventura
County and Southern California among them.
I write today to provide a brief update for our community. We are grateful for the
ways so many of you engaged in the process during the pre-search assessment visit
held in mid-November. Additionally, many of you have shared suggestions and nominations
with our search partners at Academic Search.
The search committee is scheduled to meet this week to advance our preparation for
the ensuing stages of the search. In preparation for reviewing candidate applications,
each member of the search committee completed the DiversityEdu training that is required
for all hiring committees at Cal Lutheran. The application deadline is coming up on
February 14. The committee will then begin their formal review of the applications
received with initial interviews to follow in mid-March. Response thus far has been
encouraging. Our colleagues at Academic Search report that they have been able to
engage with an exceptionally talented group of leaders who have expressed interest
in the presidency at Cal Lutheran.
Thank you for your interest in the search. We all know how much presidential leadership
matters and we are heartened by your many expressions of interest. As there are material
updates, I will provide for you additional reports during the course of the spring.
Our goal remains having a new president ready to take the baton from President Kimball
during the course of the summer ahead.
Sincerely,
Bill Camarillo
Chair, Presidential Search Committee
Board of Regents