|
February 14, 2003
Dear Colleagues:
This is the first "President's Update," and I hope you find it informative.
I am sending this e-mail message to all Cal Poly employees in an effort to expand communication across the University. I have asked that our department leaders print out copies as needed for those members of our staff who do not have regular access to e-mail, so they can also be part of this campuswide information effort.
Today I'd like to address several items that I'm sure are on the minds of most Cal Poly faculty and staff members: the State budget crisis and how it may affect Cal Poly, campus diversity, student success and the rights and responsibilities associated with University citizenship.
Cal Poly and the State Budget
California is currently in the midst of a significant budget crisis. The governor's proposed mid-year budget cuts and proposed budget cuts for 2003-2004 have filled headlines recently, as has the December decision by California State University Trustees to raise student fees by 10 percent beginning with the Winter 2003 quarter.
In January, Governor Gray Davis proposed a 2003-2004 State budget containing cuts for many segments of State operations. The governor's proposal includes a reduction of roughly $326 million for the 23-member CSU system and a need to fund $121.6 million in cuts previously identified as one-time budget reductions. The governor offset these CSU cuts in part by proposed student fee increases and funding for enrollment growth.
The enrollment growth funding proposed by Governor Davis would partially support the 10,500 additional students enrolled systemwide in the 2002-2003 academic year – enrollment growth previously not funded. The governor has also proposed additional funding to support enrollment growth of 5 percent forecast for the CSU in the coming 2003-2004 academic year.
In all, the CSU is facing a net 2003-2004 budget reduction of $260.7 million, or a 10 percent cut from its $2.6 billion general fund budget, according to January figures from Richard P. West, the CSU's executive vice chancellor and chief financial officer.
The CSU has asked that we make budget plans for next year based on the Governor's budget. Based on that budget and the allocation of the funding through the CSU received last week, Cal Poly is facing a $14.9 million shortfall for the 2003-2004 budget year beginning July 1, prior to consideration of funding any unmet needs on campus. This is a 10.8 percent reduction in State support and an 8.8 percent cut in the total operating budget.
A reduction of this size would pose great challenges for us. Cuts of this magnitude will not be made without pain, and we will all share in that pain. And any further reductions, should California's economy continue to falter, will be sure to have an impact on our students' access to education and on our ability to sustain present levels of critical University services.
Despite the dark budget picture, I want to affirm that Cal Poly will not lay off faculty or staff or reduce academic programs this academic year.
I would also like to reaffirm the University Administration's commitment regarding Cal Poly's College-Based Academic Fees. Whatever the State budget brings, the college-based fees will continue to go directly to the colleges and departments. Our colleges and departments will continue to allocate these fees based on formal consultation with faculty and students. And our colleges and departments will continue to maintain control over how those funds are spent.
Provost Paul Zingg and Vice President Larry Kelley are consulting regularly with the University Planning and Budget Advisory Committee regarding principles and policies that will help Cal Poly address the budget shortfall, and they will continue to do so. The members of this group include students, faculty, staff, collective bargaining unit representatives, deans and vice presidents, and its charge is to provide me with sound advice on long-range planning and budget issues.
The
University Planning and Budget Advisory Committee, along with the Academic
Senate Budget and Long Range Planning Committee and the deans and heads of
the administrative units, are actively engaged in discussions and
deliberations surrounding the budget. I will be relying on advice from them
throughout the State budget crisis. The budget
continues to be dynamic and we will be monitoring it closely as it
progresses through the legislative process and continues through the
governor's annual 'May Revise' and beyond. Progress on Fall Convocation Topics
During Fall Convocation, I shared with you three issues I consider worthy of serious consideration and discussion by the University community: diversity, student success and key rights and responsibilities associated with University citizenship.
Since then, the University has made real progress on each of these fronts.
Diversity
Cal Poly is fortunate to have many faculty, students, staff and administrators passionately concerned about the issue of diversity. The University has a mandate to serve students from the entire state. In order to carry out that mandate, we are working toward a student body that reflects all California.
When the Fall Quarter began, I asked Provost Paul Zingg to work with the 20-member University Diversity Enhancement Council on a thorough review of diversity issues on campus.
I am pleased to report that since then, the UDEC has formulated a Cal Poly Diversity Mission Statement, now currently under review in the Provost's Office. The UDEC has also:
The group is also currently working to complete training and orientation modules for both current and new faculty and will soon complete their recommendations to the provost.
Campus diversity, notes UDEC chair and College of Liberal Arts Dean Harry Hellenbrand, is a complex issue. There is a balance to be struck between fostering an educational climate sensitive to diversity and bias issues, yet at the same time honoring the right to free speech. "What we're trying to do is make sure we are making the campus a more diverse and civil place for people to work and live," he said. "To do that, we have to make sure that, number one, our policies are fair to everyone; number two, that we enact the policies that we do have and number three, that we make sure the policies we have in place reflect the information we glean from our surveys, focus groups and other efforts."
For more information on UDEC and its work, visit http://www.academics.calpoly.edu/diversity/.
Citizenship
Following up on another Fall Convocation theme, Cal Poly has established a Council on University Citizenship. Provost Paul Zingg will chair this new Council and Mathematics Professor Harvey Greenwald will serve as vice chair.
The Council's other members will be comprised of a minimum of six faculty representatives, a minimum of six student representatives, two members of the existing University Diversity Enhancement Council and several ex officio members from the University administration.
The Council is to explore and make recommendations over the next 18 months on strategies for fostering the following at Cal Poly:
Student Success
I am pleased to report significant progress by the newly formed Council on Student Success. Formed in October specifically to address student success, the Council is made up of 25 members, with student, faculty, staff and administrative members. It is co-chaired by Vice President for Student Affairs Cornel Morton and Vice Provost for Academic Programs and Undergraduate Education David Conn.
The Council has met monthly and held a day retreat to focus on what more the University can do to help our students meet their goal: graduation. While the council members have more work ahead of them, they have already focused on several areas: improving academic advising; improving support for senior projects; introducing the University's online degree audit system (which will aid both students and faculty advisors) and adding student success training for new faculty at orientation.
Dr. Morton notes that student and faculty members in the group have so far shared many similar concerns. While freshman retention is quite high at Cal Poly – nearing 90 percent, only about 65 percent of our students have attained degrees within six years.
"Indications are that we seem to have a lot of 'all but senior project' students," said Dr. Morton. Offering more support for senior projects and senior project advisors is one concern of the council.
The council will also be working to help each department at Cal Poly develop a student success plan, as requested by the Chancellor's Office. Those plans are to be submitted to the Chancellor's Office this summer, as part of a CSU-systemwide report on progress toward degrees.
"This effort represents a high priority for the University, especially this year," stresses Dr. Morton. "I would encourage everyone who has thoughts on student success to feel free to contact David or me personally."
Noteworthy Congratulations are in order to several faculty members.
Psychology Professor Gary Laver has been awarded a $100,000 grant to conduct studies on age-related changes in memory. He will use his Academic Research Enhancement Award, from the National Institute on Aging, to conduct four experiments in the area of adult age-related changes in memory processes.
Longtime Electrical Engineering Professor Marty Kaliski has received the 2002 Regional Professional Leadership Award. The national award from the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers-USA recognizes efforts that enhance the quality of life through the constructive application of technology and promote understanding of the influence of technology on the public welfare.
The faculty of the Architecture Department and its excellent students brought national recognition to the University recently. A poll of practicing professionals, conducted by a leading architecture and engineering journal, has ranked Cal Poly's architecture program as the No. 2 architecture school in the nation, second only to Harvard University.
And Mechanical Engineering Professor Jim Meagher has been named the first director of the University's new Donald E. Bently Center for Engineering Innovation in Cal Poly's Mechanical Engineering Department. The center, Meagher's endowed chairmanship and two additional endowed professorships were made possible by a recent $6 million gift from Donald Bently, chief executive officer of the Bently Pressurized Bearing Co. Bently said the quality of Cal Poly students he has hired and professors he has worked with during the past decade is at the root of his support for the University.
Recognizing
exemplary teaching and faculty advising are crucial to our
effort to support student success. I encourage all of you to take the time
to give thoughtful consideration to colleagues you consider worthy of the
annual Faculty Advisor Award. The award is currently in the nomination
phase for 2003. The award recipient will receive $500, and the addition of
their name on a perpetual plaque in the Kennedy Library. Nominations are
due to Academic Programs (Adm. 316) by February 21. Nomination criteria and
forms are available in Room 316 of the Administration Building, and on the
Web at:
http://www.academics.calpoly.edu/advising/award.htm.
Thank you for your time, and I look forward to communicating with you in the future.
Warren J. Baker President
|