New CSUN President Noted for Her High-Profile Style : Education: Blenda Wilson will face a thicket of thorny problems in her Northridge post, including a severe budget crunch.

By HENRY CHU

May 26, 1992 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

Four years ago, the University of Michigan at Dearborn was what one professor called “the best-kept secret in southeast Michigan,” a secret shared mostly among the 7,500 students and 200 faculty members on campus.

But shortly after the arrival of Blenda J. Wilson as its new chancellor in 1988, the university became known beyond the confines of the 90% white suburb of Detroit it occupies. And the name of its high-profile leader began drawing nods of recognition among state lawmakers.

“What she did was make us visible in terms of the quality of our institution,” Spanish professor Emily Spinelli said. “She’s a very dynamic, very high-energy, charismatic, gracious and intelligent woman. She put us on the map in about four years.”

Last Wednesday, Wilson, 51, was officially named the next president of Cal State Northridge--the first black woman to hold the post. By her account and that of friends and colleagues, she is likely to maintain the same high profile on and off campus as she did at Dearborn.

But a thicket of thorny problems will confront Wilson when she takes over in the next few months--possibly September.

Her appointment comes when the campus is struggling with a racially diverse student body, which has made increasing demands on the administration. The university’s recent thrust into Division I athletics is opposed by some students and faculty members. And CSUN faces one of the severest budget crunches in its 35-year history, with some administrators predicting cuts of 11%.

In tackling CSUN’s financial crisis, Wilson said she will need to familiarize herself with California politics and finances, as well as with the area’s many legislators in Sacramento. In Michigan, several education officials cited Wilson’s success with legislators in the capital of Lansing.

“I fully expect that I will get to know those legislators who take an interest in the university and that they will get to know me,” Wilson said last week.

Deane Baker, a University of Michigan regent, said Wilson has tackled problems similar to those she faces at Northridge. “We went through the experience in the ‘80s and in the last two or three years with very severe reductions in state aid,” Baker said.

Wilson’s preference for a high civic profile may serve CSUN well after years of a more inward focus, although some faculty members and students fear that community involvement and fund-raising efforts could eclipse campus concerns.

When Wilson appeared on campus during the presidential search, she assured the faculty and student body of her support for CSUN’s academic program and its emphasis on undergraduate instruction.

However, she took care not to commit herself to budget items she would defend despite a CSUN faculty resolution urging the new president to protect the academic program, even at the cost of cutting athletic and other programs.

“I don’t believe that the instructional program is completely independent from the co-curricular programs on campus. All the pieces are important to a coeducational environment,” she said. “So we would need to look at priorities . . . and try to maintain things that would maintain our strength.”

With the possible loss of more state revenue than campus administrators originally expected, the importance of private donations has increased.

Baker, the University of Michigan regent, said Wilson made some strides in community fund raising at Dearborn, particularly by involving the family of auto maker Henry Ford, whose former estate became the site of the university.

Early in her tenure at CSUN, Wilson will have the opportunity to appoint at least two high-level administrators. This fall, the university will choose a vice president for student affairs and, several months later, a vice president for academic affairs--two positions that will allow her to shape her management team.

Unlike retiring President James W. Cleary, Wilson is expected to employ an accessible management style that stresses consensus, seeking input from throughout the university on almost every major issue.

“She’s very open. She receives advice on virtually every important issue that goes on in the institution,” said Spinelli, chairwoman of the Faculty Advisory Committee on Campus Affairs at the University of Michigan at Dearborn.

Much will depend on the relationships Wilson will establish not only in the San Fernando Valley but throughout the Los Angeles area. Colleagues said Wilson earned the respect and rapport of the city of Dearborn, an enclave headed by a segregationist mayor into the 1970s.

“There was a lot of anxiety in the community--as there is with any new chancellor--but particularly with a black woman,” said Peggy Campbell of the Citizens Advisory Committee. “But when Blenda walks into a room, she puts people at ease. People like her instantly.

“She entered a mostly white community, and she has been tremendously received. . . . I don’t know of anybody who would not say that the University of Michigan at Dearborn is a much better place for having had her for four years.”