Report of the Chair

It is now time for the Chair’s Report.

It is a serious understatement when I say that I am greatly disappointed to be sitting in the Chair's position today. It results from the failure of the California Senate to confirm our former chair, Herb Carter. The failure to confirm Herb resulted from grossly partisan politics and, in my view, the stated reasons were unrelated to Herb's dedication to the CSU its students, staff and faculty. Herb had been guiding the board and the CSU through the most difficult period in its history. He had been doing so with great fairness and empathy for everyone who has been impacted by draconian budget cuts over the last several years. To those who have taken great delight in preventing Herb from continuing to serve, I say—on behalf of our board, "Shame on You!"

His departure is a great loss for all of us and and for the CSU system.

We will carry on, but with great regret that we will not have his tremendous wisdom and insight to guide us.

While I'm on the subject of carrying on I want to add a word regarding our presidents, administrators, faculty and staff. I believe they have all served with great dedication and distinction during this most difficult period.

It's important to let all Californians know that regardless of the negativity that has been promoted by some, the vast majority within the CSU is working as hard as possible to serve students regardless of the dramatic decline in resources, and at a time when demand for admission to our universities is at an all time high.

Criticism of this board, the chancellor, presidents and others has been dramatically misdirected. We are all functioning in unprecedented circumstances related to a lack of funding and an outright policy of dis-investing in public higher education.

Our state's recovery from "The Great Recession" depends entirely on growing the economy. And that requires the workforce that has always been produced by the CSU system.

However, until our economy recovers and additional resources are available to our universities we must continue to operate as effectively and efficiently as possible. Fulfilling that objective will require the best efforts of everyone involved.

Speaking of presidents, I want to formally welcome two of our newest CSU presidents:

Millie Garcia, as President of CSU Fullerton and Leroy Morishita as President of CSU East Bay. We are glad to have both of you continuing your leadership in these positions.

Also, I want to congratulate three presidents for their recent accomplishments: San Francisco State President Bob Corrigan has received the John Hope Franklin Award for lifetime achievement from Diverse Issues in Higher Education; Cal State L.A. President Jim Rosser has won the Reginald Wilson Diversity Leadership Award from the American Council on Education; and Mike Ortiz got the Alfredo de Los Santos Leadership Award from the American Association of Hispanics in Higher Education.

Our congratulations to you for the achievements that led to these awards.

Finally and with great pride I want to, congratulate Chancellor Reed, who was honored last week with the Theodore Hesburgh Award, as one of two outstanding leaders in higher education in the nation. The Hesburgh Award was presented in Los Angeles at the annual meeting of the American Council on Education.

The Hesburgh Award is given by TIAA-CREF and the Council. It commemorates Theodore Hesburgh, the president emeritus of Notre Dame and a world-renowned education leader and humanitarian.

Chancellor Reed was commended for his work in managing complex enrollment challenges and reaching out to under-served students, all during this time of devastating budget cuts at the CSU. It is only fitting that the chancellor has received national recognition for his dedicated work on behalf of our students and this system. Congratulations, Charlie.

That concludes my report. It is now time for the Chancellor's Report.