A Summary of the November 8-9, 2005, Board of Trustees Meeting

Contact: Clara Potes-Fellow, cpotes-fellow@calstate.edu, 562-951-4800

CSU Chico Presents Graduation Road Map Model

CSU Chico President Paul J. Zingg presented to the Board a program developed by his campus that provides exemplary guidance on how to implement a roadmap to facilitate graduation.

The program, called M.A.P. or Major Academic Plans, has been adopted by all 153 academic programs on campus and provides students with pathways that reduce the time needed to complete degrees.

Each M.A.P. covers an eight-semester span and identifies the order in which courses should be taken and the number of units or courses required for graduation. Each roadmap informs students when to apply for graduation and contains advice and recommendations specific to the academic program. The format is standardized and consistent across all majors.

“The use of M.A.P. is woven into the fabric of Chico State’s academic tapestry,” President Zingg said. “For example, academic units must submit a new M.A. P. with any proposed change or addition to a degree program, and new students are introduced to M.A.P. during their summer orientation session.”

According to Zingg, all academic departments support the formulation and utilization of the roadmaps, and the program’s web site is among the most popular among university’s web pages. It had more than 750,000 hits in the past year and a monthly range between 40,000 to more than 72,000 hits, Zingg said.

“The use of M.A.P.s has brought good results to the university,” Zingg said. “Advisers can spend more quality time with students who can resolve many course selection and sequencing issues prior to their time with advisers. It has aided in the persistence of students from the freshmen to sophomore year, and has facilitated an increase of almost 30 percent in graduation rates.”

Other CSU campuses will provide their initiatives to facilitate graduation to the Chancellor’s Office in December.

Pilot Evaluation of EAP’s 12th-Grade Experience

Results of a study that examined the efficacy of the courses developed for the 12th Grade as a part of the Early Assessment Program showed that the new Expository Reading and Writing Course (ERWC) makes strong and positive differences on the student’s skills assessed for college readiness in English.

Statistically significant statewide results showed higher scores for students who took the courses. Students who participated in the evaluation came from schools with low, middle and high Academic Performance Index Rankings, situated in rural, suburban and urban locations across the state.

Results included greater scores, students’ engagement with the materials, teachers’ enthusiasm about the materials, and positive shifts in students’ abilities as readers, writers and thinkers.

Teachers found the materials also worked well with English learners and reported gains in students’ confidence in their test-taking abilities, along with increased proficiency in reading comprehension.

“Taken together, these results point to a clear benefit for students who have experienced the ERWC materials,” said Keith Boyum, CSU’s associate vice chancellor for academic affairs. “Results of the study also show that the EAP is an effective method for better alignment of K-12 and higher education. The school districts like the material and are willing to adopt it.”

The academic year 2004-05 was the first year in which the modules were used. The CSU anticipates that with increased use statewide of the EAP’s 12th Grade Expository Reading and Writing Courses there will be a reduction in the number of CSU freshmen who need English remediation courses when they enroll at a CSU campus.

Student Conduct Code Changes Go Forward

Trustees approved a proposal to update Title 5, the Student Conduct Code. In addition to minor updates and corrections, the new version expresses university expectations and authority more clearly, flexibly, and broadly. Among the new areas addressed are proper student conduct as regards computer use, university authority over off-campus behavior, and what the university expects of its students as members of the learning community. Due-process safeguards have also been embedded in the new procedures.

Student Fee Report to Trustees

Trustees heard the annual report on campus student fees. This mandated report allows Trustees to consider the level and range of fees charged to CSU students. The report, which considers historical trends, also presents fee levels at comparable public universities across the nation.

In 2005-06, average campus-based mandatory fees increased $62 to $644 over the prior year, or 10.7 percent. The State University Fee, paid by all undergraduate students, increased 8 percent to $2,520, bringing the total average undergraduate fee to $3,164, which kept the CSU as the lowest cost public university among its comparable institutions. The CSU is also the lowest in terms of its graduate fee.

The Trustees also approved:

• Amending the 2005-2006 Capital Outlay Budget, Nonstate Funded to include the McMahan House, a conferencing and dining facility, at San Marcos; and the acquiring of 22 acres for housing and parking at Sonoma.
  
• Approving schematic plans for parking structures at San Bernardino and a Center for Children and Families at San Marcos.
  
• A resolution approving the Campus Pointe mixed-use development project at Fresno.
  
• Accepting the 2005-2006 Legislative Report No. 6.
  
• Executive compensation for F. Alexander King, the new president at Long Beach.
  
• Renaming Centennial Hall at San Diego as Manchester Hall in recognition of a $5 million gift by Douglas F. Manchester and Elizabeth C. Manchester.
  
• Naming San Diego’s Institute for Innovation and Educational Success as the QUALCOMM Institute for Innovation and Educational Success in recognition of the corporation’s $14.5 million gift.

The Trustees also heard:

• A recognition of State Senator Jack Scott for his sponsorship of the CSU educational doctorate legislative bill.
  
• A report on campus actions to facilitate graduation at Chico.
  
• A status report on current and follow-up Internal Audit assignments.
  
• A review of the qualifications criteria for the selection of CSU’s External Auditor.
  
• Reports from the Alumni Council, Student Association, and the California Postsecondary Education Commission.