Open letter to the California State University, San Bernardino community:
February, 2007
During the fall 2006 term, a three-year review of Albert K. Karnig, President of California State University, San Bernardino (Cal State San Bernardino) was conducted. The review took the form of collecting and summarizing letters from a selection of the campus and external community members. The review concluded on January 23, 2007, with discussion of the review by the Board of Trustees. The Board of Trustees and I appreciate the contributions of those who worked with us on this review.
Criteria established by the Board of Trustees in 1984, and updated in 1994 and 2001, were used to assess the performance of President Karnig and the progress of the institution. These measures included the overall management of the institution, relations on campus and within the system, educational leadership, and community relations, major achievements of the campus and the president, and personal characteristics of the president. Faculty, staff, students, alumni, and community representatives were invited to submit written comments responding to the trustees’ criteria,
Among the recent accomplishments are the following: raising the profile of the campus in the community; being a champion of diversity in students, faculty and staff; maintaining a positive climate on campus; transforming from a primarily commuter to one with significant residential housing for students; improving spirit on campus resulting in a can do attitude; maintaining an attractive and clean campus; establishing the Ombudsman Office; creating the Presidential Scholars Program; soon breaking ground for the fourth and fifth buildings of the community-funded Palm Desert campus; increasing fund raising results from $4 million in recent years to $16.1 million; greatly increasing grants and contract funding; establishing transportation, water resources and other centers and institutes; being in the first wave of the PeopleSoft management system conversion; and working closely and successfully with major donors.
A hallmark of Dr. Karnig’s presidency is communication. Dr. Karnig is accessible and approachable to members of the campus community. He meets weekly with the President’s Council – a broadly based and wide group of administrators and constituent group leaders –and the vice presidents’ council – a team of senior managers. He participates in meetings of the academic senate. Also, each quarter he convenes open forums for the campus community to discuss major issues and listen to concerns. All of this results in a very open and communicative style.
Like all CSU campuses, Cal State San Bernardino absorbed cuts in its budgets due to declining state budget support. Administrative divisions took a disproportionate share of the reductions and academic programs were less impacted. As a result, some offices are operating with minimal staff.
President Karnig is highly committed to having a diverse faculty and student body. Of the fourteen senior managers (vice presidents and deans), eight are male and six are female; there is also considerable ethnic balance in the administrative team. He speaks at African-American and Catholic churches to promote university access and readiness.
During Dr. Karnig’s tenure, the campus has seen an aggressive building program. Student housing continues expanding, the student union was remodeled and expanded with financial assistance from the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians, a literacy center was established with donor funds and the final buildings of the Palm Desert Campus will start in 2007 with 100% donor support. A College of Social and Behavioral Sciences and a Chemical Sciences Building were also built. A College of Education facility and a fitness center are in final stages of construction.
Fund raising continues to increase; the most recent reporting period has attained donations of $16.1 million, which is a significant feat. The results are significant because Dr. Karnig is in the process of working to rebuild the advancement office; it is now staffed by a vice president and a development director with the college deans working in partnership, each sharing a development officer with the central advancement division.
The area of community relations is an activity where President Karnig excels. He enjoys public speaking and is extremely proud of Cal State San Bernardino. His wife, Marilyn, has been a spectacular partner in advocating for the university. No president could ask more of their spouse. President Karnig and Mrs. Karnig are ever-present at community events and meetings, and often assume leadership roles in community organizations. President and Mrs. Karnig are highly regarded by the Inland Empire community as evidenced by President and Mrs. Karnig being named “2006 Humanitarians of the Year” by the San Bernardino YWCA, as well as other recognitions. President Karnig serves on various community-based boards dealing with education, health care, economic growth and quality of life in the Riverside-San Bernardino region.
Since arriving at Cal State San Bernardino, Dr. Karnig has made a priority of obtaining federal funding. These efforts, often through earmarks, have funded the water institute, the transportation center and the entrepreneurship center to cite a few examples.
President Karnig has been addressing past goals of raising the visibility of the university, promoting the likelihood of securing donor and grant resources for the university, and seeing that institutional offices have a service orientation.
President Karnig discussed this review and agreed on the following goals for the next three years:
- Support and implement the Graduation Rate Initiative of the Board of Trustees, resulting in the establishment of policies and practices that will improve graduation rates.
- Continue outreach efforts to traditionally underserved communities.
- Continue efforts to stabilize and increase student enrollment.
- Conduct a feasibility study and initiate a capital campaign for the university.
- Continue efforts to identify signature academic programs and student opportunities that distinguish CSU San Bernardino.
- Develop a comprehensive plan to market the university in terms of value of education, quality of educational offerings, regional workforce preparation and contribution to the regional economy.
- Impress upon the campus community the importance of hiring new faculty who reflect the diversity of the region and especially the students attending the university.
- Devise a plan within budget parameters to hire a cadre of tenure-track faculty annually to sustain the university in future years.
- Continue to diversify sources of funds used to support the university.
In conclusion, Dr. Albert Karnig is a very good president for California State University, San Bernardino. He appreciates the university’s potential and understands the opportunities in the Inland Empire to be the leading institution of higher education. President Albert Karnig should continue to lead the university to its destiny as a premier regional public university in the west.
With kind regards,
Sincerely,
Charles B. Reed
Chancellor