A Moment with President Tomás Morales

March was a busy month on campus and April will be even busier as we head into the last full month of academic year 2023-24. I’m delighted to share with you some of CSUSB’s latest news.

First of all, I want to give a shout out to our Coyote Men’s Basketball Team which made it to the Final Four this year! They came through their first game on March 26th, but lost to Nova Southeastern on the 28th.  My congratulations to this year’s team and to their coaches: Head Coach Gus Argenal and Assistant Coaches Tim Bross, Markus Black and Micah Dykes.

Another piece of big news in March is that CSUSB’s Murillo Family Observatory held a First Light event on the 19th to celebrate the successful installation of a new and a repaired telescope in its domes. The purchase of one of the telescopes and the upgrading of the second occurred thanks to generous support by philanthropist and attorney Caroline Amplatz.

While the smaller telescope was being repaired, the Observatory worked with a non-profit so that students could refurbish one of that organization’s older telescopes. The result was a robotic telescope, temporarily installed in the smaller dome. The experience allowed our students to apply their physics and computer science knowledge to develop valuable engineering skills which helped them transfer their CSUSB education into engineering jobs at places like Planewave, Millennium Space Systems, Northrop Grumman and the Giant Magellan Telescope.

This First Light event represents the transition back to full student and faculty science capability, which has been an arduous journey since the decline of the two former telescopes over the pandemic semesters.

The big news for April is that CSUSB’s forthcoming Master of Science in Physician Assistant (MSPA) program is opening its national application (CASPA) beginning April 25, running through December 1, 2024. The size of the first cohort is set at 40. CSUSB has applied for Accreditation-Provisional* from the Accreditation Review Commission on Education for the Physician Assistant (ARC-PA). The university anticipates matriculating its first class in August 2025, pending achieving Accreditation-Provisional status at the March 2025 ARC-PA meeting. 

State-of-the-art facilities are being planned in a remodeled building formerly known as the Yasuda Center on the San Bernardino campus. The formal groundbreaking for the remodeling is scheduled for April 26, 2024.

The unique elements in CSUSB’s MSPA program will comprise: a focus on community and behavioral health, early clinical experiences, active learning and educational technology, student wellness and support, and integration of telemedicine.

CSUSB’s MSPA application process will be very intentional in aiming to retain its graduates here in the IE.  I’m very excited that we will be able to further support the health of the residents of the region through this much-needed program. For more information, visit the MSPA program website.

My best wishes for a beautiful spring!

Until next time—

Tomás D. Morales

President

*Accreditation-Provisional is an accreditation status granted when the plans and resource allocation, if fully implemented as planned, of a proposed program that has not yet enrolled students appear to demonstrate the program’s ability to meet the ARC-PA Standards. Accreditation-Provisional status is also granted when a proposed program appears to demonstrate continued progress in complying with the ARC-PA Standards as it prepares for the graduation of the first class (cohort) of students. In the event the program does not earn accreditation-provisional status, students will not matriculate, and admissions deposits will be refunded. CSUSB is fully accredited by the WASC Senior College and University Commission (WSCUC).