Cal State Northridge’s Legislative Aides Association met on campus on Tuesday, October 6 for a campus update and a tour of student housing. More than a dozen staffers from city, county, state, and federal elected officials’ offices attended. The next meeting will be Tuesday, December 1, 2009, 9-10:30 a.m.

Enrollment and Admissions Update

Student enrollment at Cal State Northridge for Fall 2009 is 27,441 full-time students and 35,198 total students.  Approximately, 6,000 of those students are graduate students.  In accordance with a CSU mandate, we will be reducing enrollment by 6,000 students over two years.

PLEASE NOTE: The fall application window for first-time freshmen will be shorter than in previous years.  Admissions for Fall 2010 opened October 1, 2009 and will close November 30, 2009.  Spring 2010 enrollments were closed last July. Please consider including this information in e-newsletters and other communication with constituents. For more information see  the prospective student web pages on the Cal State Northridge website: http://www.csun.edu/outreach/prospective/

State Legislative Round-up

There were several bills of interest to the CSU and Cal State Northridge during the 2009 State Legislation Session:

• AB 867- to authorize the CSU to offer a Doctorate in Nursing. The state legislature did not pass this legislation and it remains in the Senate Appropriations Committee; it is a two-year bill.
• AB 1222- Alumni Affinity Sunset Extension: Would have ensured that California public institutions were able to continue their efforts to increase non-state resources for programs and student scholarships through services to recent graduates and alumni association members known as affinity programs. The measure would have extended the current sunset from January 2011 to January 2016. The Governor vetoed this legislation
• SB 218- Public records: state agency: auxiliary organizations: Would have revamped the California Public Records Act by redefining what entities would have been required to make their records available for public inspection. Specifically, this measure would have included CSU and UC auxiliaries that serve as philanthropic entities and/or manage grants and contracts. The Governor vetoed this legislation

Cal State Northridge benefits from Federal Recovery Dollars

In addition to federal financial aid dollars, Cal State Northridge has benefited from the infusion of federal recovery dollars into federal agencies for competitive grants. Cal State Northridge faculty have applied, so far, for 32 grants, and have received 11 grants totaling more than $2 million. Another 21 applications are still pending. Some examples of federal grants awarded:

• Observations and Modeling of Solar Total & Spectral Variability
• Valley Trauma Center- provides sexual assault prevention and intervention services for the San Fernando Valley
• A variety of food science-related research
• Collaborative Research: A 3D Seismic Study of the Pacific-North American Plate Boundary in Southern California
• A powerful microscope for DNA research

Cal State Northridge Campus Tours

Has it been awhile since your boss, you, or one of your colleagues have visited Cal State Northridge? Have you had a chance to take a hard hat tour of the under-construction Valley Performing Arts Center? Do you know of a community organization or business that may be interested in Cal State Northridge's sustainability initiatives or other projects? Contact the Office of Government and Community Relations and we'll be happy to set up a personalized campus tour.