Amy Parsons named sole finalist to become Colorado State's next president

Amy Parsons, a former longtime administrator at Colorado State University, has been named the sole finalist to become the university’s next president by the CSU System Board of Governors.

Parsons, 48, spent 16 years working for the university in various roles, most recently as the executive vice chancellor of the CSU System, which includes the main campus in Fort Collins as well as a campus in Pueblo, the online CSU Global University and a new Spur campus in Denver.

Parsons, a Colorado native and CSU alumna, had previously served as vice president for university operations on the Fort Collins campus and as deputy general counsel. She left the university in September 2020 to become CEO of an e-commerce company, Mozzafiato.

“There is only one job that could entice me to leave my current role, and that’s this one,” Parsons said in a news release announcing her as the sole finalist. “Much of my life and career have been wrapped up with CSU."

Under Colorado law, the university cannot formally hire Parsons as its new president until 14 days after identifying her as a finalist, CSU Chancellor Tony Frank told the Board of Governors at the end of its two-day session on the Spur campus Friday. Her anticipated starting date will be announced after that waiting period, the university said in the news release.

The Board of Governors met in private Wednesday at the Westin Hotel at Denver International Airport with three finalists who had been selected by an advisory committee, said board chair Kim Jordan, co-founder of Fort Collins-based New Belgium Brewing. And they discussed the candidates again in two different executive sessions during the Board of Governors' regular meeting Thursday and Friday before announcing Parsons as the sole finalist.

The 31-member advisory committee, including faculty, students, alumni, administrative professional and classified staff at CSU, members of the Board of Governors, agricultural industry representatives and business and community leaders, helped guide the process through a nationwide search, the university said in a news release.

Parsons "clearly rose to the top of the candidate pool" for a variety of reasons, Jordan said.

“She just has incredibly deep knowledge of the university and love for it; that really sets her apart,” Jordan told the Coloradoan. “She’s an alum, she has a daughter who’s a student now at CSU, she has worked in all manner of executive positions, from the VP of the campus for CSU-Fort Collins to the executive vice chancellor for the System.

"She managed the (Canvas) stadium project, she managed the Spur project. So there’s all that deep experience and wisdom that she has.

"And then she also brought a level of enthusiasm to our conversation with her that was palpably fabulous. You could just really picture her building on what’s been an incredible run at CSU to really play to our strengths and continue to grow us as a world-class university.”

The new president will replace Joyce McConnell, who signed a separation agreement with the university that was announced June 9, making her last day on the job June 30, the last day of CSU’s fiscal year.

The separation agreement included $1,572,725 in pay, subject to any necessary withholdings, which is what McConnell was due under terms of the five-year contract with an annual salary of $550,000 that she signed when she was hired in 2019. On Thursday, the Board of Governors authorized the use of some of its reserve funds to cover those payments.

Rick Miranda, who had served as provost for 10 years and chief academic officer for seven under Frank while he was the CSU-Fort Collins president, has been serving as president of the Fort Collins campus on an interim basis since McConnell’s departure. Miranda did not apply for the permanent position, CSU said in the news release.

McConnell was the first female president at CSU, which opened in 1870, six years before Colorado became a state. Her successor, provided she receives the formal offer in two weeks, would be the second.

McConnell moved into the position to replace Frank when he stepped down from dual roles as president of CSU’s Fort Collins campus and chancellor of the CSU System to focus on his duties as chancellor.

McConnell had previously served as provost and vice president for academic affairs at the University of West Virginia.

Parsons received her bachelor's degree in political science from CSU in 1995 and her Juris Doctor from the University of Colorado in 1999. She worked as a litigation attorney for a private law firm in Denver from 1999 to 2004 before joining the general counsel's office at CSU. Parsons worked in the general counsel's office from 2004 to 2009, as vice president of university operations on the Fort Collins campus from 2009 to 2015 and as executive vice chancellor of the CSU System from 2015 to 2020.

Parsons left CSU in September 2020 to become CEO of Mozzafiato, an e-commerce company that represents a collection of Italian heritage beauty brands coming to the U.S., according to a story in CSU’s online Source publication.

Parsons said her life was shaped by her experiences at CSU, including her time as a student in the political science department studying under professor Robert Lawrence and her student job on the maintenance crew at the Lory Student Center. Those people, she said, "took the time to invest in me."

"Now, as the parent of a current student, I’m gaining a whole new perspective on the opportunities and challenges we face," she said. "At its core, CSU is about access, excellence, and inclusion — and the dreams that education can make possible. It would be an immense privilege to be able to serve as the chief advocate and champion of this great university and to safeguard the success and well-being of our students, faculty, staff, and alumni.”

Parsons, through a university spokesperson, declined an interview request from the Coloradoan, citing the 14-day waiting period before she can formally be offered the job.

"We have the two-week waiting period, but we're excited to envision Amy in the role of president of the university," Jordan said. "... Amy is bright and motivated, and she will surround herself with excellent people to help her."

Reporter Kelly Lyell covers education and other topics of interest for the Coloradoan. He can be reached at KellyLyell@coloradoan.com, facebook.com/KellyLyell.news and Twitter.com/KellyLyell.

This article originally appeared on Fort Collins Coloradoan: Colorado State University names Amy Parsons sole finalist for president