The Center for Alternate Media (CAM) is the CSU's authorized coordinating center for the distribution of electronic texts (e-texts). The CAM was developed in collaboration with CSU San Bernardino and is housed on the San Bernardino campus. "I'm very pleased that CSUSB staff members are playing a meaningful role in this very important project that will improve services to students with disabilities throughout the CSU," said Frank Rincon, Cal State San Bernardino vice president of student affairs.

The disabled students assisted through this new Center include students who are blind or visually impaired, those who are physically unable to hold or open a book and students with learning disabilities such as dyslexia. "Thousands of CSU students with disabilities will be served through the cataloging and provision of textbooks offered in alternate media formats from the offices of disabled student services at all of the CSU campuses", said Laurie Flynn, director of Cal State San Bernardino's Services to Students with Disabilities.

Because the database will list alternate media textbooks, it will also help staff members at all 23 CSU campuses share electronic textbooks with disabled students across the CSU system. By reducing redundant requests to publishers and leveraging the resources of the 23 CSU campuses, the CSU CAM will greatly benefit students with print disabilities who cannot use a standard print textbook.

Additionally, disabled students will be able to access books more quickly than the previous method of working campus by campus with individual publishers. The center's web site will offer listings of the more than 840 publishing houses whose books are used at CSU campuses, and publisher contact information in the event a CSU campus has to have a textbook converted into an electronic format for a special-needs student. State law now requires that publishers selling textbooks in California also provide electronic versions of the book for use by disabled students who purchase the textbook.

The project, which was initially funded by CSU Chancellor's Office Technology Integration Grants for Education Resource Sharing (TIGER), now receives funding from the CSU Chancellor's Office and the 23 CSU campuses. Sharing the cost of the center across the system will allow each individual campus to save time and money in the long run. Along with CSUSB's offices of Academic Computing and Media and Services to Students with Disabilities, the project was developed with professional expertise from staff at Cal Poly Pomona, CSU Hayward and CSU Fullerton and the CSU Services to Students with Disabilities Advisory Committee. This project is an excellent example of collaboration across the CSU system in order to serve students more efficiently and save time and fiscal resources.

For more information on the Center for Alternate Media, please contact Davena Peters in CSU San Bernardino's Services to Students with Disabilities office at (909) 880-5238 or email her at dpeters@csusb.edu.
Portions excerpted with permission from CSU San Bernardino

CSU Stanislaus President Hughes to Retire:
Chancellor Reed Appoints Hughes as Interim President for 2004/05

Dr. Marvalene Hughes, president of California State University, Stanislaus announced her retirement this July. At that time, California State University Chancellor Charles B. Reed announced the appointment of Dr. Hughes as interim president during 2004/05 to continue the forward progress of the university. "Marvalene is an outstanding leader in American higher education, not only in this state," said Chancellor Reed. "She is a tireless advocate for CSU Stanislaus and the entire CSU system. The Board of Trustees, her presidential colleagues and I are pleased that she has accepted my offer to serve as interim president this coming academic year."

Hughes, who has been president at CSU Stanislaus for 10 years, is retiring from regular CSU service and participating in the state's early retirement program offered to CSU faculty that provides two years additional service credit to faculty members (she is a tenured faculty member in psychology). The search for a new CSU Stanislaus president began in October and is expected to conclude in March when the Board of Trustees would name a new president. The search will follow established CSU procedures and the search committee will be chaired by a CSU trustee and will include other trustees, the chancellor, another CSU president and representatives of the campus faculty, staff, students and alumni, and the community.

During her presidential tenure, Hughes has overseen construction of $70 million in new university facilities, initiated several new academic programs, and established the Stockton Eighth Grade Initiative and the Stanislaus County Eighth Grade Initiative. Student enrollment has increased and diversified, CSUS-Stockton has stabilized, and the campus has become a Hispanic Serving Institution. She also is active nationally, especially with the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU), where she co-founded the Millennium Leadership Initiative to provide leadership training for persons traditionally underrepresented in higher education administration. "Keeping Marvalene at CSU Stanislaus for the coming academic year reaffirms her commitment to the campus, community and the CSU. She will continue to move forward the campus' strategic planning process and to make Stanislaus the region's university of choice," said Reed.

The California State University is the largest system of senior higher education in the country, with 23 campuses, more than 409,000 students and 44,000 faculty and staff. Since the system was created in 1961, it has awarded about 2 million degrees, about 77,000 annually. The CSU is renowned for the quality of its teaching and for the job-ready graduates it produces. Its mission is to provide high-quality, affordable education to meet the ever-changing needs of the people of California. With its commitment to excellence, diversity and innovation, the CSU is the university system that is working for California. See www.calstate.edu.

New ASSIST Newsletter

ASSIST, California's official repository for transfer and articulation information, is launching the first edition of a newsletter for counselors, advisors, faculty, evaluators and articulation officers. The ASSIST Transfer Channel contains information on what's new in ASSIST and a handy guide for beginners new at using ASSIST.

The ASSIST Transfer Channel will be produced on a semi-annual basis and will be available online. Please click on the link to see the first edition. Future editions will be available to those who provide email addresses. Information on subscribing is listed in the newsletter. The ASSIST Transfer Channel is available at http://info.assist.org/transferchannel.htm.