Director for Planning, Design & Construction Open Forums: May 31, Jun. 2 and Jun. 5

On behalf of the Search Committee, I am pleased to announce the names of the individuals who will be visiting campus as finalists for the director of Planning, Design & Construction. The candidates’ brief bios, campus visit dates and open forum information are provided below.

The Search Committee values your input regarding the candidates’ fit with the Planning, Design & Construction Department and CSUSM. Please be sure to attend the campus open forums and submit the Confidential Candidate Feedback forms that will be distributed at the meetings. The forums are open to all students, faculty and staff, and we encourage your attendance.

Thank you,
Lindsey Rowell
Search Committee Chair for Director of Planning, Design & Construction
Director of Energy Management & Utility Services, FDM

Steve Ramirez
LEED-GA, MPM, A-DBIA

Campus Open Forum: Wednesday, May 31, 2017, 2 to 3 p.m., Markstein 104

Since 2002, Steve Ramirez has been in the service of the Planning, Design and Construction (PDC) Department at Cal State San Marcos, where he began as an administrative support coordinator and for the past two years has served as the interim director for PDC. Currently, Steve leads a team of project management professionals and staff for the PDC Department. He is responsible for major capital improvement projects as well as oversight for project management activities through interaction with clients; architects, engineers, vendors, contractors, internal and external project management staff. He prepares, develops and maintains master project budgets and schedules, and is responsible for the department’s strategic planning activities.

Steve’s previous experience as a project manager for Cal State San Marcos made him responsible for overseeing all project phases from concept design, through bidding and construction process to final closeout. He managed the activities of all outside consultants, vendor, communicated project objectives, budgets and schedules to the design team. As a member of the campus community, Steve brings thorough knowledge of the CSU planning, design and construction concepts as well as extensive knowledge of CSUSM business practices.

Steve Ramirez is a Cal State San Marcos alum, earning his Bachelor of Science in Business Management. He is currently credentialed as Associate DBIA, Master Project Manager and LEED Green Associate.

Walt Kanzler
LEED-AP, AIA COTE, Board Director USGBC

Campus Open Forum: Friday, June 2, 2017, 2 to 3 p.m., Markstein 104

Walt Kanzler has most recently accepted a position as a senior project manager at the University of California, San Diego, but from 2009-2015 served as the director of Design and Construction for Cal State Long Beach. There he managed a capital budget of $130 million and a team of 24 planning, design and construction professionals including permitting and inspection officials, building code officials and project managers. His department is responsible for long-range planning, master planning, capital and departmental budgeting and general administration of the department.

Prior to his tenure at CSULB, Walt was the director of Facilities Design at Qualcomm, Inc. where he led a team of 14 architectural and engineering professionals responsible for new and renovated spaces within the over $1 billion Qualcomm portfolio. He was responsible for developing and maintaining Qualcomm’s design and programming standards and master planning both domestically and internationally. Walt has delivered projects as large as $600 million, using a variety of methods supported by the Chancellor’s Office including P3, JOC, CM@R and Collaborative Design/Build. Walt has also served as director of Architecture and Design at Montclair State University as well as project manager/architect in the private sector.

Walt Kanzler holds a Master of Architecture from the New Jersey Institute of Technology as well as a Bachelor of Science in Construction Technology from Montclair State College in New Jersey. He is a registered architect, a LEED accredited professional, an AIA Committee on the Environment (COTE) Award recipient and a board director for the San Diego Chapter of the USGBC.

James Douglas Wills-Lipscomb
LEED-AP BD+C, NCARB, AIA

Campus Open Forum: Monday, June 5, 2017, 10:30 to 11:30 a.m., Markstein 104

Since 2009, James Lipscomb has been the director of Facilities Planning and Development, and University architect at the University of Texas at San Antonio. There he is responsible for advising the VP, president and Board of Regents regarding capital project development and managed the professional staff responsible for new and renovated space on main and satellite campuses. He chaired the Campus Master Plan Management Council and was responsible for the development and implementation of the Campus Capital Master Plan. James was also responsible for the development of University of Texas campus design guidelines and the capital development budget as well as the campus business plan that was adopted by the UT Board of Regents. He supervised the deferred maintenance project planning efforts and was responsible for the UT Systems Facilities Renewal Resource model.

Prior to the University of Texas, James worked as a senior associate for a private architecture and engineering firm. His experience includes marketing, zoning and code compliance, construction management, design guideline development and implementation as well as high-level cabinet presentations and capital budget management and University level instruction. He brings with him more than 25 years of public and private sector architecture and project management experience and over a decade of executive leadership experience. He has published a number of articles in a variety of architectural journals and received a variety of awards for his architectural roles.

James Wills-Lipscomb holds a Master of Architecture from Harvard University and a Bachelor of Architecture from the University of Texas at Austin. He is a registered architect, a LEED accredited professional in Building Design & Construction and NCARB certified.