Board Of Trustees Meeting

(Long Beach-CSUT) Today, the CSU Board of Trustees met to discuss the next round of issues currently facing students and the CSU system. The Board of Trustees will be addressing several issues on agenda such as educational policy, campus planning, buildings, and grounds; finance, and institutional advancement. The drop in student graduation rate was repeated in the agenda throughout today’s meeting. “We hope that you will stand and deliver with us”, said CSULA President Dr. James Rosser in attendance, addressing the Board of Trustees. Several CFA members were attendance as well, including CFA President and History Professor Dr. Taiz. Although she represented the CFA, she also expressed the importance of being involved with fellow students and administrators as well. For who addressed the importance of increasing graduation rates. “We cannot exclusively concern ourselves with our [CFA] bread and butter because the university is a whole and we’re all citizens of this university. And what’s important is that we (faculty, students and administrators) all work together at the best interest of the university.

A recent Los Angeles Times article defined California State University’s as part of the nations largest university systems with about 450,000 students and 90,000 graduates each year. At a time where the budget foresees more decline, the Chancellors’ new initiative is to increase the number of graduates by 7,000 or 8,000 annually. In the article, Reed explains that the plan could change the educational experience by offering more individualized support, but stretching the amount of programs students traditionally enjoyed. Part of the plan includes the reduction in general education courses needed to graduate, along with the students ability to withdraw from a class or change major. Campuses also see mandatory progress reviews, advising sessions, and fee rebates for students who graduate on time as possible remedies in keeping students on track.

In addition, the CSU Board of Trustee meeting also brought rise to a previous measure commonly referred to as "Common Calendars." Basically, this measure consists of nearly the entire 23 CSU's becoming a college semester based
campus. In addition, the campus semesters would conclude during the same time. Although it was acknowledged that this measure is not a high priority for them, it was not discussed further, and no additional details were provided. However, there is the possibility of it resurfacing once the graduation rate issues are resolved.