After 11 years of serving as the president of KU, Dr. F. Javier Cevallos is conducting a job search for a presidential position elsewhere.
He said 2013 was a good year to look at other career opportunities because both of his two children, Alex and Caroline, could finish high school in the Kutztown Area School District. His daughter, Caroline, is graduating this spring.
“Kutztown has become home to my family and me, and it has been important to me to have a place like Kutztown for my kids to grow up,” said Cevallos in early May. “This area will always hold a special place in our hearts. With many of my professional and personal goals fulfilled, I want to continue to explore and weigh career advancement opportunities in the future.”
Cevallos is looking for “very select opportunities that will provide new and exciting challenges.”
“Much like when I made the decision to leave UMass to come to KU, I would only be interested in a quality institution with outstanding potential,” he said.
Most recently, Cevallos has been a finalist for presidential positions at Monmouth University and Farleigh Dickinson University, both of which are located in eastern New Jersey.
“When, exactly, the right fit for me will come along is yet to be determined,” said Cevallos.
He said his goal had been to stay at KU for at least 10 years. He believes “it is a reasonable amount of time that allows you to complete a number of initiatives and projects.”
During his years at Kutztown, he has seen enrollment increase from 8,500 to 10,000, minorities increase from 6 to 15 percent, the completion of the Boehm Science Center and Academic Forum and renovation of Sharadin Arts Building and Schaeffer Auditorium, which is expected to be completed this summer. Cevallos became president of KU in 2002, leaving the position of vice chancellor for student affairs at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.
“I am very happy at KU and feel that we have had many outstanding accomplishments over the past 11 years, including guiding KU through a very tough economic period,” said Cevallos.
The Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE) Board of Governors had decided in late March that the 14 presidents of the state universities will not receive pay increases through 2015. They did not receive raises last year as well, but did the year before. All other administrative employees, however, will receive raises, according to a March 20 pennlive.com article.
Cevallos’s current salary is $218,956, according to Matt Santos, the director of University Relations. The PASSHE presidents’ salaries are between $199,000 and $275,000, according to the pennlive.com article. Cevallos receives the same benefits package as the other non-represented employees, as well as reimbursements for business-related expenditures, a car lease and required residence in the on-campus president’s house.
If Cevallos accepts another position, he will give notice anywhere from a few months to a year, according to Santos. The Board of Governors would conduct a national search for a permanent president. Santos said that “the search would be extensive and would include the entire campus community.” The Chancellor and Board of Governors would review feedback from interviews and make the final decision.
The Board of Governors would appoint an interim president, who would most likely be a member of the president’s Cabinet or an external candidate with similar experience. The interim president would not be eligible to be a candidate for the permanent position. He or she would serve until the permanent president would begin.

By Emily Leayman