This is about improving classrooms and lab spaces for an enhanced learning and discovery experience. –
CSU Chancellor Timothy P. White.
You don’t have to look far to find remarkable students across California State University campuses. There’s
Ryan O’Sullivan, a CSU Channel Islands senior researching high tides in Ventura to better understand the impact of sea level rise. Or
Lucero Alvarez Vieyra, a biochemistry major and math minor at Sonoma State, peer mentor, mom to 5-year-old daughter Mia, and student assistant at the campus’s makerspace.
Excellence like this deserves a learning environment to match.
Yet, more than 30 percent of the CSU’s academic facilities are 50 years old or older; half are at least 40 years old. Many university buildings need seismic upgrades to withstand earthquakes and technological improvements to stay current with the latest advances in both learning and industry. Campuses also simply need more space to educate the ever-increasing number of students aiming to earn a CSU diploma.
In spite of aging infrastructure and impacted conditions, the CSU continues to educate the most ethnically, economically and academically diverse student body in the U.S. In fact, we are a national leader in elevating the socioeconomic status of our graduates and their families: Thirteen CSU campuses rank in the top 20 of
CollegeNET’s 2019 Social Mobility Index.
On March 3, Californians will vote on Proposition 13: AB-48 Education finance: school facilities: Public Preschool, K-12, and College Health and Safety Bond Act of 2020. If approved, the $15 billion school bond would allocate money for maintenance and construction at public universities and schools, with $2 billion earmarked for the 23 California State University campuses, giving the students of the CSU—those aspiring minds who will create and drive the state’s future—even better places to learn.
CSU students have always benefited from high-quality teaching, leading-edge programs and hands-on learning opportunities; updating our learning environments and technology and providing safer, healthier facilities will ensure those extraordinary students have the state-of-the-art infrastructure they need to thrive.
Giving them the best possible education only makes sense. And that includes creating the best places to learn.