Jennifer Sobanet, interim chancellor at the Colorado Springs campus of the University of Colorado since July 1, became the permanent chancellor on Friday, CU system President Todd Saliman announced.
“I’m so excited,” the 52-year-old Sobanet said Friday, after attending an ice cream party for the UCCS women’s soccer team, which just completed an historic season in winning the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference regular season title and its second South Central Region title.
Sobanet had not been named a finalist; Saliman previously had announced two finalists for the job out of 93 applicants — Susan Elrod, the current chancellor of Indiana University in South Bend, Ind., and Mahyar Amouzegar, distinguished professor of logistics who recently stepped down as provost and senior vice president of academic affairs at The University of New Orleans in Louisiana.
Both Elrod and Amouzegar underwent intensive interviews on campus with faculty, staff and students the week of Nov. 27.
“What became clear, while those are outstanding individuals, was that the campus needed something different, and what the campus and the community needed was Jennifer,” Saliman said Friday.
Under CU Regent policy, Saliman has the authority to select a candidate other than the finalists. For more on the process, look for a follow-up article in Sunday’s Gazette online at gazette.com and in the print edition.
Sobanet earned a doctorate in educational equity from the CU Denver School of Education & Human Development, while she was working at the campus, most recently as executive vice chancellor of administration and strategy.
Before joining CU Denver, Sobanet spent nearly a decade in management consulting and corporate finance after serving as an economist and budget analyst in former Colorado Gov. Roy Romer’s Office of State Planning and Budgeting.
She went on to become the chief financial officer and vice president of finance and administration at Front Range Community College, and the acting executive director and chief operating officer of the Colorado Department of Higher Education.
Saliman said as interim chancellor, Sobanet has proven herself capable of doing the job and worthy of having it. He cited her ability to work collaboratively and promote transparency as primary considerations for the job offer.
“For the last five months, I have been able to observe Jennifer’s approach to some very difficult campus issues, and she has made impressive progress,” he said. “She is the right person for UCCS at this moment in time, and she will do a great job in this role on an ongoing basis.”
Sobanet said her priorities are to continue to understand the school’s financial situation and increase enrollment by getting more students to “see that UCCS is for them, as a place they want to stay and persist and graduate from.”
She also wants to expand the strong relationship the university has with business, industry and military sectors in the Pikes Peak region.
After renting an apartment during her time as interim chancellor, Sobanet said she plans to move her family to Colorado Springs and assume permanent residency.
Her appointment means she is the eighth UCCS chancellor and succeeds Chancellor Emeritus Venkat Reddy, who announced in May he would vacate the position after six years and return to the College of Business as a professor in fall 2024.
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