Associated Press
By TERENCE CHEA
Published: Tuesday, Feb. 28, 2012 – 10:18 am

SAN FRANCISCO — The board chairman of the California State University system is losing his job after state Republican lawmakers blocked his confirmation, school officials said Tuesday.

Gov. Jerry Brown last year appointed Herbert Carter to a second eight-year term on the CSU Board of Trustees, which oversees the 23-campus system. The Senate had one year to approve the nomination with a two-thirds vote.

The one-year deadline passed Monday with no action, CSU spokesman Mike Uhlenkamp said. Senate leaders decided not to hold the vote after failing to secure any Republican support.

Vice Chair Bob Linscheid, who has served on the board since 2005, will serve as acting chairman until the board selects a permanent chair in May, Uhlenkamp said.

Carter worked as a CSU administrator and served as president of the United Way before Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger appointed him to the 25-member Board of Trustees in 2004. He became the board chair in 2009.

“It is extremely disappointing that his nomination to the Board of Trustees would be subject to political circumstances,” CSU Chancellor Charles Reed said in a statement. “To deny the confirmation of a person that has done so much of behalf of the CSU is incomprehensible.”

Republicans say they objected to Carter’s role in raising student tuition while salaries for top administrators have been increased.

Senate Republican leader Bob Huff said he couldn’t recommend Carter’s confirmation “until such time as Californians see real evidence that the CSU Trustees are making the tough decisions needed to control escalating costs that are being passed onto students and their families.”

Senate Democratic Leader Darrell Steinberg told reporters last week that he believed Republicans would block Carter’s appointment because they “want to show that they’re relevant.”

“I think he’s a fine appointee,” Steinberg said, noting that Carter acknowledged there were issues with board-approved salaries and fees and “expressed some regret.”