September 18, 2006
Good morning. It's a beautiful day to begin the academic year, and it's wonderful to have the Santos Manuel Student Union back in use. Welcome as well to our Palm Desert Campus colleagues and others watching over the Internet.
Last May, this room held the gala that concluded our 40th Anniversary. Forty years is lengthy, but near infancy by university standards. We're thankful that the gala raised over $200,000 for student support.
This is my 10th Convocation, and I know you're thinking that maybe this year he'll get it right and not bore us to exhaustion. Well, don't bet on it!
I encourage your comments, whether by e-mail, at my quarterly meetings with faculty, staff and students, at today's reception or simply give me a call. I want to know what suggestions and comments you may have.
It's been my honor to serve as president and, in the nine-year blur of time, I've grown to admire and even love Cal State San Bernardino and so many of you. A university president is accorded a unique status -with substantial authority, a battery of responsibilities, and the need to balance a diverse array of constituencies. But it's also been a privilege to serve.
I serve three masters, and without their support I couldn't succeed. First, the woman in the front row who has been essential support for over 40 years, my wife, Marilyn Karnig (when I think of her, I'm reminded of the cute but true aphorism that behind every successful man there stands a very surprised mother-in-law).
Second, I serve at the pleasure of the board of trustees and chancellor, whose support is necessary both for my continuity and campus' prosperity.
Third, I need university community support, without which I couldn't succeed and wouldn't try.
I've been fortunate to be the president while Cal State San Bernardino has become a powerful engine for intellectual, cultural, health, political and economic empowerment.
I've tried to contribute in various ways:
- By working to secure and allocate the resources needed to succeed - and that allow us to better control our own fate.
- By telling the university's story to help frame public opinion and the image of the university.
- By advancing partnerships.
- By helping to align the university's mission and vision.
- By seeking to sustain a campus environment that's collegial, accountable, entrepreneurial and effective.
- By building on our quality and strengths while seeking to treat weaknesses.
- And by concentrating on the long term - including far beyond my tenure as president.
Most of the time, I've tried to get out of the way. I've decentralized budgets and decision making in order to encourage leadership across the university. However, when things don't work well, I've seen it as my job to get in the way.
Similarly, while I value consensus and respect our campus governance systems, at times I've felt it my responsibility to decide against the consensus and recommendations.
As president, I've sought to follow the trustees' charge to help bring Cal State San Bernardino to the next level, while also adopting J.C. Robinson's view that I should persuade others that we're already at that next level.
You may believe that I've moved in the wrong directions or simply have been unsuccessful. As I've suggested before, those who think well of me will find positive words. Conversely, those who believe I'm wrong-headed or too unsuccessful might employ one of these three comments:
- Given his performance in the last nine years, President Karnig should go far. And the sooner he starts the better.
- He tried to move CSUSB, now let's move him as fast as we can. Or,
- After the last convocation, when I asked my colleagues whether they had heard the President's last speech, they all said, "I certainly hope so."
One consistent annual goal for Cal State San Bernardino is to generate, from fundraising, at least 10 percent of our general fund budget. The target last year was a little over $9 million, and it's important because it's a trustee goal, but even more so because state funding is never enough for university needs.
Last year, we secured $16.2 million in fundraising, nearly 80 percent higher than the target and almost twice the previous record. I want to thank vice president William Aguilar, associate vice president Francoise Aylmer, as well as each of the development officers and deans, particularly Palm Desert Campus dean Fred Jandt, for contributing to such a valuable record.
A meaningful portion of the $9.2 million was donated by current employees, in part because this past year we had our first annual faculty and staff campaign. I was pleased by the number of participants and first-time donors, as well as the total raised. We'll have a second campaign this year, and I hope you'll consider supporting the university. Congratulations to Brian Newberry of the College of Education, who won a reserved parking space as part of the faculty and staff campaign.
Thanks to faculty, the office of sponsored research and some special initiatives, our grants and contracts activity of nearly $28 million which also was a CSUSB high water mark.
In fact, if we add together that roughly $28 million in grants and contracts, the $16 million in fundraising, and the over $46 million in student fee revenues, the amount is $92 million - equal to what we received from the state last year. With these efforts, we help to define our own future.
We have many extraordinary students at the university. For instance, while CSUSB is only 4 percent of the system's enrollment, the year before last we won 15 percent of the system's scholarships; and this past year, we continued by receiving a hefty 11 percent of the scholarships - almost three times as many as our enrollment would predict.
In 2002, we created the Presidential Academic Excellence Scholarship. It covers fees and provides $5,000 a year for students in the top 1 percent of their graduating class from any high school in San Bernardino County. With a 3.5 CSUSB grade point average, a student can retain the scholarship for up to four years.
In fall 2002, we had a scant six students who accepted the new scholarship, in 2003 that jumped to 15 students, then 25 in 2004, 35 last year, and 38 (and still counting) this fall. Overall, we'll have at least 98 of these scholars on campus this year.
And please listen closely to this. Of the 81 scholars from prior years, six have graduated, two completed the four years but have not yet graduated, 60 still receive the scholarship, 11 did not maintain the necessary 3.5 GPA but are still enrolled, and two dropped out. That's an astonishing retention-graduation rate of almost 98 percent.
And our faculty and staff also excel. For example, Alan Smith, Joan Fryxell and two University of Arkansas colleagues had the highest ranked National Science Foundation proposal dealing with volcanic systems.
And Associate Dean Tom Rivera was given the "Luna Community Service Award" by the Riverside Chamber of Commerce because his 21-year old "Inland Empire Future Leaders program" has had a 99 percent high school graduation rate and a 90 percent college attendance rate.
Based on student opinion data, the Princeton Review has again selected Cal State San Bernardino as one of the schools accorded the "Best of the West" designation. But it's even more exciting that the review reported just last week that CSUSB's graduate program in entrepreneurship - directed by Mike Stull - was ranked as the fourth best graduate program in the nation. Only Syracuse, DePaul and Northwestern universities ranked higher. The other California institution in the top 20 was UCLA, ranked at number 11.
And also this past week, the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences' Institute of Child Development and Family Relations was named San Bernardino County's lead agency and awarded $3 million for the first year of a multi-year project. Led by Kimberley Lakes, the institute, in partnership with Loma Linda University and Medical Center, county public health, and many others, will provide screening/assessment/referral and treatment for at-risk children from birth to age 5.
The National Association of Physical Plant Administrators chose CSUSB as one of only five universities honored for effective and innovative energy practices. The other four were Brown, Bryn Mawr, Georgia Tech and the University of British Columbia.
And we have several new programs in place or in planning stages. This fall we begin a new master's program in theatre arts, and we're accepting students for a new bachelor of science in computer engineering - the campus's first engineering degree and the CSU system's first new engineering program in 22 years. Congratulations to Natural Sciences Dean Rob Carlson, former chair Arturo Concepcion and committee members for building the program and the innovative partnership with community colleges and regional businesses.
We've also been given chancellor's office approval to plan our first master of fine arts degrees - in studio art and in creative writing.
And I fully expect in fall 2007 we'll offer our first doctoral program, an Ed.D. in educational leadership.
Let me comment a bit on the Inland Empire, the region we serve. Riverside and San Bernardino counties are growing at the rate of roughly 80,000 people per year. If it were a state, the far flung two-county area of 27,000 square miles would be larger than 10 other states, and its nearly 4 million population would be greater than 25 states. In fact, with merely 10 percent of California's population, our two-county area generated about 20 percent of the state's growth in this decade. In addition, the Riverside-San Bernardino metropolitan area tied Las Vegas for being the best metropolitan area in the nation for economic development.
The region is fast growing and has opportunities for various kinds of development. Nevertheless, there are some profound challenges. Let me focus on just one of them: educational attainment.
In a state where 30 percent of those at least 25 years old have a college degree, only 18 percent of Inland Empire residents are college graduates. More critically, our college-going rate is among California's lowest. And less than 30 percent of Inland Empire high school graduates took courses that would qualify them to enter a CSU or UC. Moreover, SAT and ACT scores are lower than across the state and nation.
As a result, many students come poorly prepared and not socialized to the expectations of higher education. Among the basic facts, 70 percent are in the first generation to attend college, 65 percent require remediation in English, and 55 percent in math. The good news is that within a year of CSUSB pre-college work, 90 percent of them meet college norms.
With 35 percent Latino and 13 percent African-American students, Cal State San Bernardino has the third highest percentage of each historically underrepresented group at any California university. But only 35 percent of our students are men - reflecting a national trend.
Such gender differences now affect all ethnic groups, and women constitute over 56 percent of college students in the United States. The gap has grown annually since 1982, the last year that more men than women attended college.
There may be truth in the story about the genie who offers a man three wishes. His first was to be twice as rich as any man - and poof, he was surrounded by trillions of dollars. Then he asked to be twice as strong as any man - and poof, he was ripped with rock-hard, sinewy muscles. And finally he asked to be twice as smart as any man - and poof, he was made into a woman. I don't believe women are smarter than men, but they're far, far more mature about education.
In the CSU, budget growth is linked by formula to enrollment increases, and there have been three crucial policy changes.
First, in past years, enrollments were based on full-time equivalent students (FTES), each equal to 45 credit hours of instruction, regardless of whether students were graduates or undergraduates.
For years, the CSU has argued this was unfair because graduate education was much more expensive. Finally, the rules have changed, and now only 36 hours taken by a graduate student generates one FTES, while it will still take 45 undergraduate hours to similarly generate an FTES.
Second, as a result of a California Senate decision, only resident California students will receive a state subsidy. The Senate decided that tuition paid by non-residents should cover their education costs without any state allocation. We will not lose state funding up to our past non-resident enrollments, but further non-resident increases will not generate new state funds.
Third, historically, if enrollments were more than 2 percent below the campus target, funds beneath the 2 percent would be returned to the chancellor's office. And, in turn, if the CSU system was lower by more than 2 percent, funds would be returned to the state. We've never been that low against a target, so we've never been affected.
However, the Senate adopted an extremely inflexible and ill-conceived policy of asking the CSU to return funding, on a one-to-one basis, for every FTES below the system's target. To be certain that the system will not need to return funds, the chancellor and trustees made a policy that each campus would lose funding for each FTES below target, and receive funding for each FTES over target. Clearly, you can't fund those over their targets unless you penalize those not meeting their assigned goals.
This policy will affect us. Last year we were 1.2 percent short of our enrollment goal, and this year we received a 2.9 percent target increase. Together, the 2.9 percent and 1.2 percent give us an adjusted target of 4.1 percent growth. Based on the latest information available, it appears that we'll be about 2.2 percent above last year, but 1.9 percent short of our overall target.
Specifically, our undergraduate enrollments are soaring, up 5 percent this past year and over 20 percent since 2001. But our graduate enrollments at very best have been flat, and credential enrollments have dropped sharply.
The 1.9 percent shortfall is still an estimate because graduate and credential students register very late. However, if current estimates hold over the year, we'll be about 260 FTES short. It's also too early to firmly project nonresident enrollments.
If the predicted scenario plays out, we'll need to return more than $2 million - because each FTES is worth over $8,200 in state and fee revenue. After subtracting utility, CMS, insurance, and other mandatory costs, we'd have something over $1 million in baseline funds and about $1 million more in one-time money to distribute, with another $1 million held in reserve.
The budget also contains a 3.7 percent state allocation for salary increases. Specific amounts are determined by union negotiations, but overall there's nearly $2.5 million in compensation as well as over $1.5 million in retirement and health care benefits. I'm as disappointed as anyone that we haven't reached agreement on a faculty contract - and it appears we'll go to impasse.
Given that there have been quite limited faculty salary increases in recent years, other than in tenure and promotions, the salaries of new hires have compressed those of faculty hired a few years earlier.
The provost and deans stepped up to deal with the most pressing cases. They initiated contract-approved processes for faculty to request adjustments - and committees, department chairs, and deans made recommendations on adjustments to the provost. Separate from tenure and promotion, 48 faculty members were given salary increases that averaged abut $3,800 and ranged from 2 percent to 15 percent. In all, over $200,000 was allocated, each to applicants who were recommended for raises.
Now let's turn to this year's priorities. Number one remains the same - maintaining an environment that sustains the collegiality I've experienced over the past several years despite cuts to budgets and limited salary increases.
We survived in part by identifying the likelihood of cuts before other campuses - giving us the chance to make earlier decisions, and also by spreading reductions over several years, by protecting academic programs as much as possible, and by protecting permanent employee jobs. But those strategies would have buckled under the weight of the conflict and bickering so often seen in other institutions.
By collegiality, I clearly do not mean being indifferent to outcomes. That wouldn't be fair to students or to one another. What I do mean is integrity, decency and concern for one another. For us, having close friends at work is positive - and promises for even greater successes.
There's an interesting tale of a raging forest wildfire. The property owner broadcast that the most helpful fire crew would receive a $250,000 reward. Crews sped to the scene, but as they neared the intense flames, they all screeched to a halt, except for one small fire engine from a rural department. It sped by the others, until it stopped on a hillside. The crew leaped off the truck and doused the flames.
The owner asked what the crew would do with the reward. Without blinking, the driver said, "First we're gonna fix the truck's brakes."
Just like those on that imaginary truck, you didn't intend to be in a blaze of budget cuts, but you've demonstrated your mettle while in a situation you didn't choose. To succeed, you've been faster, friendlier, more responsive and more entrepreneurial. Thanks for being such effective colleagues.
Next, since it's our larger goal to help students succeed and because this is the second year that we won't quite meet our enrollment target, we'll begin an overarching review of how to better sustain and promote enrollment and student success. That review will start with a focus on encouraging and informing parents and children about the value of higher education as well as the availability of financial support.
Parents need to know that we have over $120 million available in financial aid and that even without loans, 57 percent of our undergraduate resident students have their fees paid entirely by scholarships, Pell grants, Cal grants and/or state university grants.
We'll also maintain support for the parent institute on quality education, GEAR-UP and AVID programs, once again invite youngsters to campus, and I'll continue to speak at African American churches and in the coming year at churches with substantial Latino membership.
As part of the review, we'll examine our marketing and advertising efforts and the university's image in the region. Beyond that, the assessment will look intently at undergraduate recruitment and admissions processes, orientation programs, as well as in-take and overall student advising
To promote student success, academic affairs and the "Committee to Facilitate Graduation" will work to implement the 22 strategies advanced by the trustees and statewide academic senate. They'll also examine other ways to raise retention and graduation rates.
At the end of this year, there will be an assessment of the impact on retention of our freshman seminar and the innovative gateway program developed by Lloyd Peake and the faculty senate.
Fairly typical of the CSU, 80 percent of undergraduates are retained from freshman to second year, 68 percent from second to third year, and 43 percent graduate within six years. There are challenges, including the fact so many of our students require remediation, with 70 percent in the first generation to attend college and 70 percent receiving financial assistance.
Nevertheless, there's clearly room to improve, especially in second and third year retention and the six-year graduation rate. The key is for students to remain qualified and enrolled. If they drop out for more than one quarter, the chance of graduating drops by more than 40 percent.
Given their recent enrollment experiences, special attention will be devoted to the credential program (which is half the size it was at its crest) and master's programs overall.
And as the chancellor requested, the provost established an academic technology committee and will assess technology uses to improve teaching and learning.
We'll accelerate international recruitment efforts, and also continue specific international partnerships, for example, with universities in Turkey, Taiwan, Korea, Mexico, Peru, Thailand and China. There are attractive possibilities for joint degrees, especially with Korean and Chinese institutions.
Distributed education may be used in some of these international initiatives, as well as in the United States. Complete distance masters in public administration and criminal justice programs will be available next year, and interest also has been expressed by other programs.
Finally, we'll work with military installations to determine if we can meet the educational needs of civilian and military personnel, plus those of troops mustering out.
As a third priority, we'll continue to develop academic programs. In addition to the doctorate in educational leadership and MFAs that I mentioned earlier, a major priority will be an evaluation by academic affairs of what programs we should develop to meet student and regional needs.
Fourth, we'll work to increase the number of tenure track faculty, with a five-year goal - contingent on funding - to reach a tenure-to-non-tenure track ratio of 3 to 1.
Budgets will determine how fast we can recruit, but the emphasis will continue to be on the highest quality and most diverse faculty possible. To the credit of deans, chairs and recruiting committees, we were successful in hiring 39 new faculty members on 46 advertised lines, for a yield rate of 85 percent, the highest in CSUSB memory.
Of the new faculty, five - or 13 percent -- are Latino. Since our enrollment is over 35 percent Hispanic, it's valuable to have Latino faculty. However, because the hiring pool is only about 5 to 6 percent Latino, success is often difficult.
We'll also recruit this year on two other significant posts: the vice president for information resources and technology, and the university librarian.
Fifth, even with the recent slowdown, a principal challenge to recruiting and even retaining faculty and staff is the soaring cost of housing. To help, we created a housing assistance program.
The City of San Bernardino agreed to reserve $1 million for each of the next two years for subsidies that faculty can qualify for based on salary and family size. Up to 20 percent of the cost of housing is paid by the program. Ten percent is forgiven for each year that the buyer lives in the home. There are also reduced down payment and interest rate programs, as well as a list of subsidized houses.
We're negotiating with a firm that owns land behind campus for what may become some campus housing, and discussions are being held with other developers, as well. Risa Dickson of the pPresident's office and Lillian Hernandez in human resources will hold workshops in early October for any faculty or staff who are possibly interested. In addition, V.P. David DeMauro will employ a housing consultant to identify housing opportunities as they arise..
Sixth, to help address fiscal challenges, we'll continue to enhance and diversify our sources of funds. Though it's impossible to predict fundraising successes in any given period, we do aspire to an amount similar to last year. Several campaigns are in progress or in a stage of development. Moreover, we'll place greater emphasis on planned giving.
We also expect to replicate the grant and contract record of $28 million. Last year, we funded the new position of associate provost for research. Jeff Thompson and his colleagues have made valuable contributions in advancing faculty research. To promote coordination of pre- and post-award services, we'll determine if we should join the two into a single office.
We'll continue to seek special initiative funding from our congressional delegation, including those who supported us this past year: Reps. Jerry Lewis (R-Redlands), Joe Baca (D-Rialto) and Mary Bono (R-Palm Springs).
The university will also explore the possibility of taking equity positions in firms that are funded by Cal State San Bernardino's Office of Technology Transfer and Commercialization.
And our endowment investment policy will be reviewed to see if we should alter the investment mix.
Seventh, a number of planning efforts will be undertaken and completed. We'll adopt a new strategic plan, with drafts circulated for comment before any final approval. We'll also revise the technology strategic plan adopted in 2002, with an eye to integrating technology into teaching and learning. To assure satisfactory input, several open sessions will be held for faculty.
In addition, because each CSU campus must safeguard all confidential data, a system-wide effort is underway to develop security plans and policy guidelines. Our campus will seek to play an integral role in shaping the guidelines and implementing best practices.
And the final priority will focus on the timely and cost effective completion of capital projects. This past year we took possession of the chemical sciences building, the Office of Technology Transfer and Commercialization facility, and the Santos Manuel Student Union. Campus Parkway between Kendall Dr. and Northpark Blvd., near the corporation yard, was finished, as was work on Northpark.
Due to be finished in February '07 are the biology building renovation and the student recreation and fitness center. The two parking structures ought to be finished by November 2007. And we broke ground for the College of Education building, which, along with the Physical Sciences building renovation, the Palm Desert Campus Health Sciences Building, and a roadway that will loop campus is scheduled for completion around April 2008.
And Caltrans has, I hope to everyone's pleasure, finally completed altering the two southbound lanes at University and the 215.
Vice President David DeMauro said that since the turn lanes were on this year's agenda, one of his goals already has been met. I told him to take credit for four goals, because these turn lanes have been on the agenda for at least the past four years.
State librarian emeritus Kevin Starr has written that "the CSU system . is keeping California afloat, while offering poor and middle class people a continuing opportunity to move into . well-paying jobs.."
As Mr. Starr suggests, a college education has dramatic financial and social impact on individuals, families and society. A college education fuels the economy and helps overcome past inequalities.
Thank you for all you do to make dreams come true. You have my great respect, and I hope each of you has a great year.