Cal Poly has named media veteran Chip Visci as its new vice president of strategic communications, ending a several month long search. The new administrative position demands a $120,000 annual salary.
Visci, who has tallied more than 30 years in the journalism industry, retired from the publisher position at The Tribune in October after four years of service to the McClatchy-owned business.
“One of the reasons I became a journalist we because I like explaining things to people,” Visci said Monday, following his first day on the job.
Visci topped the list of qualified applicants and was one of the final two people who interviewed for the position according to Robert Koob, Cal Poly provost and vice president of academic affairs.
Koob said he took over the search committee for Vice President of University Advancement Sandra Ogren after she fell ill. He said his role was to “dot the i’s and cross the t’s” in the final phases of the hiring.
“After the interview process, one was chosen and that’s when the offer was made (to Visci),” Koob said.
With high-level positions, such as Visci’s, a third party reviews and certifies the hiring process to make sure it was legitimate and fair.
“It wasn’t like someone just stopped by and got the job,” Koob said.
Visci built an extensive resume during his time in the media, which includes the four years at the Tribune, a stint as vice president of operations for the now-defunct Knight-Ridder, as well as positions at the San Jose Mercury News and the Detroit Free Press.
Visci said that although he retired from the McClatchy Corporation, he wanted to continue to work in a field that would offer new experience.
“I didn’t know what that would be exactly,” Visci said.
Visci’s position, which was reported by The Tribune to be the third-highest ranking job at the university, entails that he foster communication between the university and government, between internal relations at Cal Poly, the Alumni Association as well as other efforts such as keeping the community aware of what is going on at Cal Poly.
“He already knows that side of it,” Koob said, refereeing to Visci’s ability to relate to the community.
“From the kind of work that needs to be done, I don’t see any impossible challenges,” Visci said.
One thing Visci mentioned was that he will need to adjust to is the university climate.
“It is necessary to learn a new culture… I need to learn how the university operates,” he said. “If I can’t adjust to the university culture then I won’t be effective.”