CSUN NAMES INTERIM FINANCIAL ADMINISTRATOR.

Byline: Phil Davis Daily News Staff Writer

Veteran university administrator James F. Sullivan has been named California State University, Northridge's interim chief financial officer, the college announced Thursday.

Sullivan, who retired as vice chancellor at the University of California, Davis, in 1991, has nearly 20 years of experience in overseeing university financial operations. He starts Jan. 19 and will be paid $12,000 a month.

He is a resident of Pebble Beach.

Sullivan replaces Arthur Elbert, who left the university in December to become senior director of facilities projects in the CSU Chancellor's Office. A search for a full-time vice president for administration and finance and chief financial officer is expected to take six months.

Sullivan, who has held two other interim positions since his retirement, said he enjoys the fast pace of the work.

``It's not a whole lot different from the permanent job, but instead of taking time to get started you have to jump-start and it's a sprint the whole way,'' Sullivan said. ``You try to get as much done as possible in a short time.''

Sullivan's duties at CSUN will include streamlining the university's fiscal operations and overseeing the continued reconstruction of the campus from $390 million in damage sustained during the 1994 Northridge Earthquake.

Sullivan earned his bachelor's degree in government from Dartmouth College, his master's in public administration from the University of Colorado and his doctorate in political science from the University of Pittsburgh.