CSU Pueblo's 2025 Presidential Search

Dr. Rhonda Epper Named Sole Finalist for CSU Pueblo Presidency

The Board of Governors of the Colorado State University System on Thursday named Dr. Rhonda Epper, currently president of Trinidad State College, as the sole finalist for the CSU Pueblo presidency.

“Dr. Epper has a long and impressive career as a leader in higher education, as well as strong ties to Southern Colorado and the economic development interests of the region,” said John Fischer, chair of the CSU System Board of Governors. “Her track record of success in fundraising, student achievement, and academic innovation makes her a truly exceptional candidate to lead our CSU Pueblo campus.”

The Board conducted listening sessions with the CSU Pueblo campus community over the summer and then embarked on a national search in August, with a 12-member Search Advisory Committee. The committee interviewed 12 candidates and brought forward four candidates for interviews with the Board of Governors. 

“We feel extremely fortunate to attract a sitting president who already is well-known and respected in Colorado,” CSU System Chancellor Tony Frank said. “Dr. Epper’s knowledge and experience stand out in any candidate pool and make her uniquely well-qualified to guide CSU Pueblo to the next level. I look forward to working with her and have full confidence in her as the right person for the job.”

In accordance with Colorado law, there is a mandatory 14-day notice and waiting period following the announcement of a finalist before the Board of Governors can enter into an employment agreement. In mid-December, the Board of Governors will meet to consider the formal appointment of Epper as the President of CSU Pueblo.  

Epper has served as president of Trinidad State College in Trinidad, Colo. since June 2019, during which she oversaw a $45 million capital funding campaign and led the coalition to change the college’s name from Trinidad State Junior College. She built strong partnerships to advance economic development in the region, launched the college’s first bachelor’s degrees in nursing and business, and created new programs in cybersecurity, robotics, and advanced manufacturing, along with new investment in the visual and performing arts. She guided the campus through the pandemic and to stable enrollment post-pandemic; increased budget reserves; and saw graduation rate increases that are the highest in the state’s community college system. Under Epper’s leadership, Trinidad State was named a semi-finalist for the 2025 Aspen Prize – the nation’s premier recognition of community college excellence, based on strong student outcomes and post-graduation success, including for those historically underserved in higher education.

Trinidad State, like CSU Pueblo, is a federally designated Hispanic Serving Institution and has consistently maintained the state’s smallest equity gaps on most measures.

Prior to taking the helm at Trinidad State, Epper was provost and vice president for academic affairs at the Community College of Denver, one of several leadership roles she’s held over many years with the Colorado Community College System. She also served as chief student success and academic affairs officer for the Colorado Department of Higher Education and as a regional director for the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education (WICHE).

She earned her Ph.D. in Higher Education Administration and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Denver, along with a Bachelor of Business Administration in Finance from the University of Texas at Austin.

Epper responded to her designation as sole finalist: “It has been a privilege to lead Trinidad State, and I am grateful for this opportunity to continue to support the educational and workforce needs of Southern Colorado. CSU Pueblo is poised to be a powerhouse for the region in terms of career education and economic growth, and I look forward to partnering with the faculty, staff, and community to lead the university to the next level. The students of CSU Pueblo and people of Southern Colorado deserve our very best.”

Rico Munn served as Interim President of CSU Pueblo since February 2025 and will return to his role as CSU Fort Collins’ Vice President for Metro Denver Engagement and Strategy as of Jan. 1, 2026. “We want to offer our hearty thanks to Rico Munn for his excellent leadership over most of this year, and for the stability and commitment he’s brought to the university as interim president,” Frank said.

Current Provost Gail Mackin will serve as Interim President for CSU Pueblo between Jan. 1, and the start date determined by the future employment agreement for Pueblo’s next president.

Colleagues – I’m writing to share some information regarding the upcoming CSU Pueblo Presidential search.  The Board has reviewed the notes from the original listening session and the results from the Presidential Attribute Survey, listened to feedback I’ve gathered from colleagues and search firms around the country, considered previous searches and outcomes, and has arrived at the decision to conduct a confidential search process over the coming months.  Of course, the pros and cons of public searches and confidential searches are generally well known and generally hotly debated within our field.  Advocates of public searches argue for more constituent involvement, greater public scrutiny, and better campus buy-in to the outcome.  Advocates of confidential search processes rest their arguments on building the strongest candidate pool, with representational engagement that allows a few people to take a deeper dive rather than everyone engaging to a lesser degree (much like the difference between representational and direct democracy).  In this case, the Board felt the most important outcome was to assure the strongest pool of applicants from which to select the next president – and that is best achieved through a confidential search

Representation on the Search Advisory Committee then becomes critical to ensure the voices of campus stakeholders are heard.  The committee will include the elected representatives to the Board from the faculty and the students, as well as the elected leaders of the Administrative Professional Council and the Classified Staff Council.  The CEO of the CSU Pueblo Foundation will represent alumni and the community.  Board members serving on the committee include the Chair of the Evaluation Committee (Nate Easley; this position also chairs the Search Advisory Committee), the Pueblo representative to the Board (Dominic DiSanti), Ray Baker (originally from Pueblo and with strong community ties), Polly Baca, and Louis Martin.  Kate Siegel Shimko, vice chancellor for administration and government relations, will represent the CSU System and round out the 11-person committee.  These folks have a fairly unenviable role in that we require them to treat confidentiality extremely seriously while listening to and representing you, their colleagues.  I hope you’ll join me in thanking them for their service in this role.

The Search Advisory Committee will meet soon to finalize the position description and review the search timeline.  In brief, we anticipate the Search Advisory Committee will hold virtual listening sessions before finalizing the position description. The listening sessions, along with the Presidential Attributes Survey that was sent out in May, are designed to assure the Search Advisory Committee is well informed by campus and community input.  Advertising will begin mid-September, and the Search Advisory Committee will review applications in October. Depending on the size and quality of the applicant pool, they may conduct confidential interviews.  Following their deliberations, they are asked to forward a slate (generally three, but that’s not a hard and fast rule) of qualified candidates to the Board, which serves as the hiring authority under Colorado statute.  The Board will conduct confidential interviews and anticipates naming a sole finalist.  Following the two-week comment period required by statute, the Board will meet and finalize its decision regarding the named finalist.  We anticipate this process will conclude not later than the December Board of Governors meeting in Denver.  We hope the successful candidate will be available to start the spring semester as CSUP’s next president, but if we need to address the issue of an acting president following Rico Munn’s return to his role at CSUFC on 1 January, there are a variety of options available to address that need.

Selecting our next president is an extremely important task.  I hope you will provide your thoughts via the survey or listening sessions and then be prepared to welcome that person to their new role.  These are challenging jobs in times of change and tension across American higher education.  New presidents don’t come with all of the answers, and your goodwill and grace to allow people to grow into the role is the most important gift you can provide your next president.  Their success is all of our success, so thanks in advance for all you’ll do to help.

I’ll be in touch with updates as the search progresses, and you can always check the Presidential Search website. 

Be well - tony 

Dr. Tony Frank

Chancellor, Colorado State University System

Good Afternoon,

We invite you to participate in an important, in-person listening session with CSU System Chancellor Tony Frank, focused on gathering input on the search for CSU Pueblo’s next President.

Whether you're a member of the broader Pueblo community, or campus community, your perspectives and priorities are essential in helping identify the qualities, experiences, and values we seek in our next campus leader. Your voice will help ensure the search process reflects the needs, aspirations, and identity of both the university and the region it serves. This is your opportunity to help shape the future of CSU Pueblo. 

Date: Thursday, July 10, 2025

Time: 7:00 p.m.

Location: CSU Pueblo Occhiato Student Center Ballroom

Let us know you’re coming: https://forms.office.com/r/yMLAr7af9a 

If you have any questions or concerns please don’t hesitate to reach out to me. Thank you for being a vital part of the CSU Pueblo community!

Megan Lorenz

EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT TO THE PRESIDENT, PRESIDENT'S OFFICE

The Board of Governors of the Colorado State University System will soon be discussing the search for the next president of CSU Pueblo. As we prepare for these discussions, we are reaching out to seek the opinions of a broad, diverse group of people who are connected with and care about CSU Pueblo and its future.  

We would like to invite you to complete this short survey at the link below to share your thoughts on what qualities the Board should consider in its next president. Your honest, candid feedback in this survey will provide an important foundation for the search process. Responses are anonymous.

https://colostate.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_0upu53dGaYGiGbA

If possible, please complete and submit the survey by June 15.

If you know others who might want to share their views, please feel free to share this link. We will also make it publicly available soon. 

Thank you for your time – and for your ongoing support of Colorado State University Pueblo. 

Sincerely, 

-tony

Dr. Tony Frank

Chancellor

Colleagues,

I’m writing with updates concerning the CSU Pueblo presidency.  Since the appointment of Interim President Munn, I’ve been in contact with many colleagues and search firms around the country, trying to assess the status of regional comprehensive presidential searches.  As you know, the traditional presidential search cycle kicks off in August or September, culminating in the spring with the naming of a new president who typically comes on board the following summer.  This cycle also matches with the academic calendar, allowing the best opportunity for campus and community engagement. So the question when considering deviating from this cycle is this: is there a compelling reason to enter the marketplace off-cycle?  As I reported to the Board of Governors at the May meeting, there does not appear to be anything pushing us to move ahead of the upcoming search cycle that would begin this August.  I base that conclusion on the results of our own recent search, the challenges that currently face American public higher education, reports from colleagues and friends about the depth of search pools, and my confidence in the executive team at CSU Pueblo.  All of these would, to my mind, argue for us following the traditional search cycle.

That approach provides us time to accomplish some important tasks.  Over the summer, we can gather a lot of input – critical to the success of the search.  We’re finalizing a refresh of the presidential attributes survey we utilized in our last search, and we anticipate that going out with a wide distribution relatively soon.  We’ll schedule some constituency-based Zoom listening sessions to further gather input, and the tapes of those listening sessions will be posted to a search website along with access to the survey for those who can’t attend a session.  Guided by that input, System staff will refresh a draft position description, potential process timelines, and the skeleton of a search advisory committee (not names so much as constituencies to be represented).  I’ll take those documents to the Board at their August retreat, and that would set us up to establish a search advisory committee that would finalize the timeline and position description before we kick off our process in September.  Importantly, the Board will utilize the input to determine the type of search to be conducted, so for those of you who have yet to weigh in on this aspect, please spend some time thinking about the pros and cons of various approaches in addition to the qualities you think are most important for success.

I think it goes without saying that leadership matters to a university, particularly in the challenging times we face, and not having a permanent president on board can create some anxiety in our community. But again, I want to express my confidence in the leadership team at CSU Pueblo and the experience they bring to our campus. And I also know that the Board can count on the CSU Pueblo community to engage with this process and help them find the best president to lead CSU Pueblo into the future.

Thanks in advance for your input and ideas.

- tony

TONY FRANK

Chancellor

Colorado State University System