Report of the Chair

I want to begin by acknowledging vice chancellor Jackie McClain who is leaving her executive position. The chancellor will be making some more detailed comments in his report. But, on behalf of this Board of Trustees, I want to express to you our deepest gratitude for your service. Our praises are our most warranted, and the CSU is better due to your numerous contributions.

This past academic year and especially late spring approximately 96,000 degrees were conferred at our 23 campuses. Congratulations to each degree recipient. I want to personally thank members of the Board of Trustees who participated in commencement ceremonies. From my own experience, I can tell you that the presence of trustees is much appreciated by the graduates and their parents, the campus faculty and staff, and the presidents. It truly is an uplifting experience to celebrate with our graduates.

Today we have a new CSSA board of directors. Dina Cervantes of Northridge is the chair. Dina would like to introduce your colleagues from CSSA?

Also, the executive committee of the academic senate is newly constituted. Dr. Barry Pasternack from Fullerton is chair. Dr. Pasternack would you like to introduce your colleagues?

Eighteen California State University campuses were listed in the May issue of Diverse Issues in Higher Education as being among the annual "Top 100," a national list of colleges and universities that conferred the most bachelor's degrees in all disciplines upon Hispanics in 2005-2006. CSU campuses consistently rank among the very top in the nation in this area and thus contribute to nation’s diverse workforce.

I want to mention that Cal Maritime’s training ship has two cruises this summer in the Pacific Ocean. These cruises provide students with intense real-life experience as ship’s crew, an appreciation of their shipmates, and exposure to cultures of other countries. The first cruise started on April 29 and made port in Kobe, Japan; Hong Kong; Da Nang, Viet Nam; Guam; and Honolulu. Following a cadet changeover in Honolulu the second cruise departed on July 1 for a number of days at sea and will make port in Subic Bay, the Philippines; Niigata, Japan; and Seattle, returning to Cal Maritime on August 28. The ship’s log, location tracker, and photos are available at Cal Maritime’s website.

As part of the Access to Excellence process, a lengthy e-mail was distributed last week announcing the availability of the latest draft document. This is an open invitation to Trustees, Presidents, the CSSA, the Alumni Council, our staff and unions to comment on the draft.

Finally, this is the time of the year where under Trustee policy, the Board Chair approves and reports on the annual operating budget for the State University House. An operating budget of $68,970 for 2007-2008 was approved with provisions for supplies and services, insurance, and utilities.

The funding, all of which is non-state money, is derived from the proceeds of the sale of the previous State University House in Bel-Air. The trust fund that derived there from is restricted to supporting the operation, furnishing, and maintenance of the State University House. When the trust was established in 1991, two spending rules were instituted to protect the corpus and ensure there are sufficient interest earnings in the future to cover operational and maintenance costs without using General Fund dollars.

Do any Board members have any questions?

That completes my report.

Chancellor Reed, will you deliver your report.