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| Chancellor Charles B. Reed |
As the 2005/06 academic year comes to a close, I want to thank you for the work that you do for the California State University. I am incredibly proud of all that the CSU has accomplished – and continues to achieve – and I want to share with you some of the areas in which we are making a national impact.
First and foremost, we are taking the lead on important issues facing higher education. For instance, our Early Assessment Program, a test that helps 11th-grade students assess college preparedness, is getting national recognition as an innovative approach to addressing the remedial education problem. The EAP has earned favorable mentions for the CSU in both USA Today and Time magazine this spring.
We are also expanding outreach to communities across California to ensure that we are reaching students from traditionally under-served populations. In February, we held a “Super Sunday” college information event at eight Los Angeles-area African-American churches that reached nearly 20,000 congregants. The event was so successful that we are planning another one in Oakland on June 11. We have also reached out to Latino, Asian American, and Native American community leaders through other events. You may read more about our outreach and partnership efforts at www.calstate.edu/impact.
Elsewhere, the CSU is continuing to make a difference:
- We are taking the lead on a major statewide effort to reach out to California's exiting military men and women to facilitate their transition into college.
- We are preparing to offer the CSU's first independent doctoral degree in education.
- We have launched a major effort to help California prepare more math and science teachers.
- We are making important progress in improving the transfer process and facilitating graduation.
Many of the outstanding people who work for the CSU continue to win national and international recognition for their efforts. The CSU system recentlyhonored four outstanding faculty members and one administrator with the $20,000 Wang Family Excellence Award. You may read more about our faculty and staff accomplishments at www.calstate.edu/faculty_staff.
Finally, last week Governor Schwarzenegger released his May revision to the 2006/07 state budget. The May Revise, which is an update to the budget that takes into account the tax revenues the state received in April, would provide the CSU with an additional $1 million for the recruitment and hiring of nursing faculty. Overall, we are looking at a solid budget that will help us continue to rebuild from the budget cuts of past years.
All of these developments, and many others around the system, tell me that the CSU is a university system “on the move” with a great deal of momentum going into the next academic cycle. I am incredibly proud to be a part of the CSU system, and I hope you are as well. If you would like to receive CSU news on a regular basis, please subscribe to the CSU Leader, our weekly e-newsletter, at www.calstate.edu/CSULeader.
Thank you again for helping to make the California State University such an outstanding institution of higher education. I wish you a productive and rewarding summer session.
Charles B. Reed
Chancellor
The California State University