University presidents can get parental about their campuses. We brag about them. We plan their future. We tell people about the many contributions the university makes to the region's cultural and economic vitality.

The president is usually a former faculty member who enjoys sharing the satisfactions of teaching and scholarship with faculty colleagues. A president revels in students' success and looks forward to the celebration of commencement.

So when a president must bid farewell to all this, there is a sense of loss. A close and personal relationship must be carefully and sensitively broken. I find myself in this position after accepting the presidency of California State University, Sacramento.

Some things help. Among them is knowledge that the campus I'm leaving is strong. The people of North County should know that Cal State San Marcos is a fine university. After 13 years, it has built a good reputation and is helping more than 7,600 students realize their academic dreams.

How different the campus is today than when I arrived six years ago! Our enrollment has grown by more than 60 percent. We have added a classroom building, the Mangrum Track, an arts building and a science building. We began construction on Kellogg Library, the Clarke Field House/Student Union and University Village and the first student housing ---- all to be completed in the next few months.

The campus has a great future. During my tenure we have developed strategic goals and objectives, creating an academic blueprint that will guide development of academic programs and align them with the development of campus facilities.

We changed to the provost model for management of academic operations. We enhanced our relations with friends of the university and with the region we serve.

The campus is in good hands. Robert Sheath, the provost and vice president for academic affairs, will continue our programs. On July 1, Roy McTarnaghan, an experienced administrator who headed a new university in Florida, will become interim president. He will serve while a search is conducted for a permanent president. The search committee has begun its work and hopes to announce the new president by the end of the year.

Cal State San Marcos' service to the region will continue and will improve. The academic blueprint starts the campus down a path that will, in a few years, increase the number of courses available to students and respond to the needs of the region. Cal State San Marcos will offer new programs in criminology and justice, physical education and kinesiology, nursing, social work, public administration and more. With UC San Diego and San Diego State University, the campus will offer a joint doctorate in educational administration. The majors available to students, and the skills available to employers in the region, will increase dramatically.

I will watch the growth and development of Cal State San Marcos from afar with continuing interest in the campus and its destiny. My wife, Gloria, and I will always think fondly of the many wonderful people we have met and the close friends we have made in North County.

Alexander Gonzalez is president of Cal State University, San Marcos.