Proposition 47 Victory Moves CSUH Closer to Construction of Business and Technology Center


Passage of Proposition 47 on the statewide ballot Tuesday pushes the campaign to construct a Business and Technology Center on the California State University, Hayward campus closer to the finish line, according to Hank Salvo, chairman of the building campaign.

“This is fantastic news,” said Salvo, who chairs the university’s fund-raising effort and is a board member of the Cal State Hayward Educational Foundation. “The ‘yes’ vote means we are well on our way to successfully completing this campaign next year.”

“This vote shows tremendous confidence by the voters and a determination to invest in our educational system even when California is not in the best economic condition,” said university President Norma Rees. “This bond issue was very important to improving K-12 schools, which produce the students who move on to higher education in this state. Someday, many of those students will be able to enjoy the new Business and Technology Center here at Cal State Hayward.”

Salvo, chief financial officer for the Robert Mondavi Corp., said the $11.5 million made available to Cal State Hayward for this project by the bond issue will be added to nearly $7 million already raised from private sources. Another $2 million will come from campus resources. Projected cost of the Business and Technology Center is $23.5 million, with groundbreaking projected in 2004.

“This victory gives us the keystone funding for the project,” Salvo said. “It prepares us for the final $3 million fund-raising push that we expect will include some major gifts, including a challenge grant we will seek from a major foundation.”

Salvo noted that, in addition to major gifts already received, the alumni, friends and employees of the university have purchased more than 800 inscribed bricks which will become part of a memorial wall in the new complex.

“We have approached our capital campaign to build the Business and Technology Center by using the kind of public-private partnership effort that led to passage of Proposition 47,” said Bob Burt, vice president for university advancement at Cal State Hayward. “That partnership is fundamental to the strengthening of our institutions of higher education and nowhere is that more evident than on this campus, where we’ll use Proposition 47, campus resources and private sources to build our first new academic building in 30 years.”

The Business and Technology Center will serve as the home of the School of Business and Economics and function as the university’s communications hub. It will provide a state-of-the-art home for programs in technology management, engineering, multimedia production, international trade, marketing, e-commerce and online degree programs.

‘The Right Project for the Right Time’

“This is the right project at the right time for the university,” President Rees said. “It will help us better prepare our students for success in the highly technological world of the 21st century. This facility will greatly enhance our ability to meet the current and future educational needs of the greater East Bay and surrounding communities.”

The building that currently houses the university’s School of Business and Economics was built in 1965, before computers were integral components of the academic program. The 37-year-old facility does not have the complex wiring and connectivity needed for many university instructional programs.

“The vote on Proposition 47 is a major step forward and gives us the impetus to complete this project,” said Jay Tontz, dean of the CSUH School of Business and Economics. “We are now able to enter the final phase of a project that will bring together professors, technology, and students from all over the world in a state-of-the-art facility.”

The bonds authorized by the ‘yes’ vote of 58.9 percent on Proposition 47 will provide a total of $12.7 million to Cal State Hayward. In addition to the $11.5 million for the Business and Technology Center, $800,000 will be made available to plan the seismic retrofit needed for the campus library and another $400,000 will be released for other capital improvement projects.
Statewide, the vote allows California to issue $13.05 billion in general obligation bonds to construct and renovate school facilities: $11.4 billion for K-12 schools and $1.65 billion for higher education. The bonds will fund construction of an estimated 46,000 new classrooms, improvements and repairs to old school buildings, and upgrades for the laboratories and computer facilities.

Proposition 47 provides $496 million to the California State University system’s 23 campuses.
“With Tuesday’s vote, Californians have reaffirmed their belief that the future of this state rests in the quality of its educational system,” said Louis Caldera, the CSU’s vice chancellor for university advancement and president of the CSU Foundation. “Prop. 47 will help California build the clean, safe, and modern learning facilities that our students so desperately need.”
Caldera said more facilities are needed at CSU’s campuses to accommodate 130,000 new students expected by the end of the decade.

Contact: Kim Huggett, Director of Public Affairs (510) 885-2032