Report of the Chair

I want to begin with a formal welcome to our two newest trustees: Faculty Trustee Bernadette Cheyne and Student Trustee Jillian Ruddell. Given that we have been talking about the Hearst/Trustee awards, I should point out that Jillian is the first Hearst/CSU Trustee's Award recipient to serve as a CSU trustee. We look forward to working with both of you.

In light of recent announcements of the retirement of four of our presidents, we are going to need to conduct four presidential searches.

I want to name the following trustees to the four respective presidential search committees:

Northridge
Chair: Bob Linscheid
Debra Farar
Linda Lang
Glen Toney

Fullerton
Chair: Lou Monville
Henry Mendoza
Steve Glazer
Bill Hauck

San Francisco
Chair: Roberta Achtenberg
Ken Fong
Melinda Guzman
Pete Mehas

San Bernardino
Chair: Debra Farar
Lou Monville
Carol Chandler
Margaret Fortune

The Trustees’ Committee on Presidential Selection met last month. Among our topics for discussion was a change in the presidential selection process to provide for the formal identification of internal candidates. We also discussed revising the campus visit process and eliminating a second review panel, which has been part of the policy that has not been used. We also decided to explore developing a new system of comparison institutions based on tiers. The committee will reconvene in October after staff has done an analysis of the proposals.

Our newest Early Assessment Program results are out, and now we are able to look at a six-year picture of how we have done. The results show that over six years we have made incredible progress. California's high school juniors have increased their proficiency in both math and English. We’ve had a 10 percentage-point increase in the number of students who have completed Algebra II or higher, as well as an increase in the pool of proficient students. We’ve had an increase of 70,000 students participating in the English portion of the test with a 7 percentage-point increase in proficiency. The number of students participating has increased by 68,000 to more than 385,000 statewide. That represents 81% of all juniors enrolled in public high schools in the state. These results are an incredible testament to the hard work of our faculty and staff, and to their school district partners. It also points to the success of a critical piece of the Early Start Initiative. The earlier we can reach these students, the better chance they have at success.

On August 27, the CSU hosted a successful CSU Super Saturday event at Dominguez Hills. This free event now in its fifth year, gives students a chance to learn more about all 23 Cal State campuses. It attracts more than 1,000 prospective students, family members and mentors each year. Along with CSU Super Sunday and the CSU Summer Algebra Institutes, it is a core effort of the CSU African American Initiative.

I want to extend congratulations to Philip Levine, a professor emeritus at Cal State Fresno, who has been named the nation’s next poet laureate. He is an award-winning poet who has won both the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award. He taught for 34 years at Fresno before retiring – and at age 83, he continues to write poetry.

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. I approve an operating budget of $73,830 for 2011/21 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 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 structure and ensure there are sufficient interest earnings in the future to cover operational and maintenance costs without using General Fund dollars. We have held true to this commitment. Do any board members have questions?

Last but not least, I’d like to once again congratulate the Hearst Awards winners. They are truly an inspiration to all of us.

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