Report of the Chair

I want to begin by letting you know that the confirmation process is moving forward for several of our newer trustees: Trustees Eisen, Morton, Garcia, and Norton will attend committee meetings in Sacramento to discuss their nominations at the end of March. They will have their confirmation hearing on April 10. We wish them the best of luck.​

I want to thank and congratulate Trustee Fong for making a substantial commitment to the Hearst/Trustees scholarship program. His $150,000 endowment will support an annual scholarship for a student studying in the STEM fields. It has a special emphasis of encouraging students from traditionally underrepresented communities to succeed in the field.

Thank you, Trustee Fong. This scholarship represents an important addition to the Hearst/Trustees program, and we are very grateful for your generosity.

We had a series of successful Super Sunday events at African-American churches across the state, with broad participation from our presidents and staff. You will hear more about these events from Chancellor White, but I want to specifically thank those trustees who took time out of their schedules to participate. Trustees Eisen, Mehas, Morales, and Vargas: Thank you for giving your time to these important events.

Two weeks ago a large team of CSU presidents and staff headed out to Washington D.C. for our annual Hill Day. Trustees Farar and Glazer were part of the team. Although weather led to the cancellation of the Hill reception – and the cancellation of my flight to get out there – the team had a good series of visits and meetings.

The following day the CSU hosted a Tri-State alumni reception in New York City. I am proud to report our largest turnout ever for this event – 214 attendees. Thank you to all of you who planned and participated in the meetings.

I want to recognize that 16 CSU campuses have been named to the national President's Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll. Each year this award recognizes colleges and universities that achieve meaningful, measureable outcomes in the communities they serve. Nearly half of the CSU's 437,000 students are engaged in some type of community service activity. Students perform 32 million hours of community service annually, a total economic impact of $697 million. In fact, during the 2011-12 academic year, more than 85,000 students had the opportunity to participate in 2,600 service-learning courses across the system. This is a major point of pride for our institutions, and I want to celebrate the fact that our students give so much back to our state.

And this is yet another important element of the CSU story that we need to be telling in Sacramento and in our communities throughout the state.

Later this morning, we are looking forward to hearing from Rebecca Mieliwocki during today's Alumni Council report. Rebecca is a two-time CSU alumna and a 7th-grade English teacher from Burbank was named National Teacher of the Year last year. She is a graduate of Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and she earned her teaching credential from Cal State Northridge. We are very proud to count her as one of our own.

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