Report of the Chair

It is now time for the Chair's Report.

First, I want to welcome our newest trustee, Rebecca Eisen. She has been a partner at the law firm of Morgan Lewis and Bockius LLP since 2003. She earned a master of arts degree in English from San Francisco State, and she earned her law degree from the University of San Francisco School of Law. Welcome, Rebecca.

I am very pleased that with the passage of Prop. 30, we were able to begin the process of rescinding the tuition fee increase that was in place at the CSU. I am sincerely hopeful that this will be the beginning of the state’s reinvestment in higher education. Our state policymakers need to start making up for the devastating budget cuts of the past several years, and reclaim our collective vision of higher education as a driver of California’s economic future.Thank you to all of our campuses for the work you did to share information about this initiative on what was a very lengthy and complex ballot.

Next, a few brief housekeeping items:

Because of the change in the CalPers pension plan, I am appointing a special committee of the Finance Committee. The members of this panel will be Trustees Bill Hauck, Lou Monville, and Kenneth Fong.

The committee's role will be to explore how the CSU should respond to represented and non-represented group to the pension reform changes.

We have appointed two committees to conduct our presidential searches for Fresno State and Cal State L.A.For the Cal State L.A. presidential search, the committee will be chaired by Trustee Lou Monville. The members will include Trustees Margaret Fortune, Lupe Garcia, Henry Mendoza, and myself; as well as President Horace Mitchell of CSU Bakersfield.

For the Fresno State presidential search, the committee will be chaired by Trustee Peter Mehas. The members will include Trustees Rebecca Eisen, Hugo Morales, Larry Norton, and myself; as well as President Jeffrey D. Armstrong of Cal Poly SLO. The committees will hold their organizational meetings in early February.

Next, the news about our chancellor transition. Last month, we announced the hiring of UC Riverside Chancellor Tim White as the new CSU chancellor. We believe that Dr. White’s background and experience reflect the institutional values and mission of the CSU. His record of leadership and his commitment to student success add up to an impressive vision for the university's future. Even though Chancellor Reed leaves very big shoes to fill, we feel that Dr. White brings the right experience and the right ideas to the job. We look forward to welcoming him in the beginning of January.

Of course that means that this will be the last Board of Trustees meeting for Chancellor Reed. I know he is not the kind of person who wants us to make a big deal about him, so I will be brief: He is the best kind of leader a higher educational institution could hope for. He is thoughtful, decisive, fair, and he has his priorities straight. He has helped shape this system so that it will continue to serve California and meet its educational needs throughout the 21st century. We are so very grateful for the countless hours he has dedicated to the CSU system. He has received many honors from the groups and people he has touched during his time here. We have just a few of them out on display in the lobby. These are resolutions and commendations from:

• The California State Assembly – Resolutions from Marty Block, Chair of the Assembly Higher Education Committee; and from Assemblywoman Susan Bonilla.
• The Asian Pacific Islander Caucus, with thanks for his work on student and community outreach and preparation.
• The Black Caucus, with special thanks for his hard work with the African American Initiative and in particular the Super Sundays outreach to students and their families.
• The Latino Caucus, with special recognition for Chancellor Reed’s partnership with PIQE and work with Latino families throughout California, and support for the Dream Act in our state and nationally.

Chancellor Reed, we will miss you, and we wish you all the best.

It is now time for the Chancellor's Report.