Chancellor, California State University
CSU Board of Trustees Meeting
May 12, 2010
Thank you Chair Carter.
I too would like to welcome our new – and reappointed - trustees to the board, as well as welcome the Lieutenant Governor. I look forward to working with all of you as we move forward.
As many of you have heard, Bill Dermody, who served as chief of staff at the Chancellor's Office passed away recently. Bill served at the CSU for more than 35 years, and was a graduate of Cal State Los Angeles where he received both his baccalaureate and masters degrees.
Many of his colleagues and friends attended a service for Bill, and I know his mother, Teresa Dermody, appreciate all of your support. I'd like to also thank President Jim Rosser who has established a scholarship fund in Bill's name at the campus.
As Chair Carter mentioned, all of the three segments of public higher education were up in Sacramento recently to meet with legislators together, and to advocate for the reinvestment in higher education.
We visited with key members, and also held a press event with the Governor, my colleagues Mark Yudof and Jack Scott, as well as representatives of our respective boards.
There were a couple of things that came out of the meeting that I think are key. The first is that there was unanimous agreement that the three segments – the California State University, University of California, and the Community Colleges – have never worked better together.
The second part is that the Governor publicly vowed that he would not sign a budget unless it included his funding proposal for higher education.
We all know that it is a long budget process, but this Friday, the Governor will release his May revise budget proposal so we are all anxious to see what will happen.
Also, last week I attended the California Community College board meeting to talk about our Ed.D. programs, as well as the transfer process. There is good news on both fronts.
First, we will have our first graduating class of Ed.D degree recipients this summer. There are about 100 students that started three years ago, and will be graduating this summer. They will be prepared to serve as community college or K-12 educational leaders.
Second, Jack Scott and I have been working with Senator Alex Padilla who is sponsoring SB 1440, which will establish an AA transfer degree.
This will allow students to be able to take their 60 units earned at their community college, and know that the credits will be accepted at our campuses. In Florida, having an AA transfer degree made the transfer process run very efficiently, and I am very hopeful that we can make it happen in California this year.
This will be much better for students who will be able to earn their degree without unnecessary delays, and move through the system much more efficiently.
It is graduation and commencement season, which is the best time of year. I would like to thank all of the trustees who are attending commencement ceremonies at all of our campuses and supporting our students.
We will also be awarding a number of honorary degrees to those who have been identified as Japanese Students who enrolled at a CSU campus and were forced to internment camps during World War II.
We believe there may be up to 250 students who were at six of our campuses during this time that we would like to identify.
Finally, I'd like to congratulate the Cal Poly Pomona Broncos Men's basketball team who won the NCAA Division 2 championship this year by beating the number two seed, Indiana University of Pennsylvania.
The team is here with their coach Greg Kamansky who was named national coach of the year. Congratulations, and I'd like to ask you to join me here for a team photo.
Chair Carter, that concludes my remarks.