Chancellor's Report

to the Board of Trustees

November 13, 2002

Let me begin by reiterating what I mentioned two weeks ago, which is that our biggest challenge right now is weathering the "double whammy" — a bad economic situation and rising enrollment.

We're entering into uncharted territory with the current budget situation. We still do not know if or how much of an additional cut we will see for this year, and next year is anyone's guess. California is going to have a massive funding gap and no one seems to have a concrete plan for how we can close it. But one thing we do know for sure is that lots of things will change between now and when a final budget is signed.

A few words on last week's elections: In California, the biggest winner of all was education. Californians voted to approve more than $22 billion worth of school construction bonds. I see that as an affirmation once again of how important education is to our citizens. People in this state view education as the key to our future. They understand that if we build quality schools, we are building a bright future for our children and for California. Those sentiments came through in the polling booth, especially on Prop. 47, which won 59 percent of the vote.

Chair Farar, I want to join you in thanking Louis Caldera, Bill Hauck, our presidents, and all of the faculty, staff, student, and alumni volunteers who helped us get out the vote. CSU campuses got energized about this election, and I believe it made a real difference.

As Chair Farar mentioned, we have presidential searches underway in Sacramento and Pomona, and we will be doing a third in Chico. I visited the Chico campus last week and I had a chance to talk informally with many different groups about what they want to see in a new president. All of the constituent groups appear to be mobilized and ready to participate. They will be an important resource for us when we begin the search in a few months.

I want to thank Executive Vice Chancellor Dave Spence and the rest of his team for putting together the new CSU accountability report. The very first job this board asked me to do was to implement Cornerstones. This report is a key component of our Cornerstones implementation. It gives us a clear measure of how we are doing, and it allows us to benchmark our progress from one year to the next. It also helps our external audiences — including legislators, policymakers, and the public — by letting them see exactly how we are doing in each of the nine key categories. This is one of the most important things we can be doing to carry out our objectives and to be accountable for our work. Thanks again to everyone who helped us complete this ambitious project.

As you heard this morning, we are going to have to take a serious look at enrollment management. This is something we have never really done before except on one or two campuses. But the current situation is pushing us up against the limits of our capacity. We are going to need to study this very carefully. We will have to determine what we can manage and how we can continue to fulfill our mission of providing access to students. The issue will come up for a vote in January. But the conversation will go on long after that as we continue to assess student demand versus institutional capacity.

Congratulations to CSU Stanislaus President Marvalene Hughes, who was named this year's winner of the CEO Award from the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) – District VII. She was honored for her contributions to the campus community and for her support of advancement at CSU Stanislaus. She will receive the award at the CASE District VII conference next month.

One interesting note: CASE started this award in 1999, and three out of the four awards given have gone to CSU presidents. John Welty and Bob Maxson were the two earlier winners. I think this is a sign that our presidents truly stand out among their peers in terms of support for university advancement efforts.

I want to close on one brief personal note. It was five years ago this month that this board voted to hire me. I knew that coming to California from Florida would be a big change. But I wanted to come to the California State University because I truly believe that this university system has the best mission in the world. This is a university that provides real opportunity to students who might not otherwise have a chance at higher education. It has been a great privilege to work on behalf of CSU students, and it has been a real honor to work for this board. I think we have made a great deal of progress in a number of areas, and I am excited about the many projects that we have left to do. I want to thank each of you for your support over the time we have worked together. I look forward to continuing to work with you to help the CSU carry out its mission.