California State University,
Northridge
From the President's Desk
| California State University, Northridge From the President's Desk | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
October 1, 1997
This initiative is the most comprehensive and intensive planning effort in the system's history and will give our students the competitive advantage they will need to keep pace in our technology driven world. The partnership aims to enhance the quality of learning and teaching, improve the quality of the student experience, increase administrative productivity and quality, and enhance the personal productivity of students, faculty and staff. GTE and its industry partners are committed to providing a robust and ubiquitous infrastructure that will not only improve the existing CSU system, but will enable the CSU to move forward with the necessary enhancements to stay technology rich.
This is among the most important strategic developments for enabling Cal State Northridge to continue the leadership role we have achieved within the CSU. With recent legislative confirmation that CSU funding, whether in the form of additional student fees or a systemwide technology fee, will not gain state support, CETI is the only viable opportunity for us and our sister campuses to implement our technology goals. To be sure, however, this is also an initiative that requires new skills of partnering and a new level of trust in the power of our collective interests.
We will hold a community forum on October 14 from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. in the Performing Arts Center of the University Student Union to inform the campus community about the importance and specifics of the CETI initiative. Dr. Tom West, Assistant Vice Chancellor for Information Resources and Technology, and Mr. David Ernst, Executive Director of ITS, from the Chancellor's Office, will join Dr. Susan Curzon and me to provide you with additional background information about the process to date and to cover implementation issues currently under development. It is essential that you participate in this important discussion._Please plan on attending the forum on the 14th.
The approval is contingent on three aspects of the plan: that a special authority will be created to facilitate lease and development activity at the site; that the state will provide a funding augmentation to the CSU of $6.5 million to operate the center; and that the CSU has the option to defer expansion of the facility if there is not sufficient funding in the future. The $6.5 million augmentation is part of CSU's 1998-99 state budget request.
The Board's action is great news for the system and a welcome opportunity for the CSUN Ventura Center to respond to the enrollment demands that have been limited by space in recent years. Provost Louanne Kennedy and I will be working with CSUCI President J. Handel Evans to create a smooth transition plan to serve the growing needs for higher education in Ventura County.
It is a wonderful feeling to be a part of a caring university community. Our roles and contributions have increased each year. We are proud to share in this annual expression of compassion in LA and grateful to everyone who walked with us.
Special thanks to Ms. Amy Reichbach, Health Educator in the Student Health Center, and her dedicated support staff for another year in which Cal State Northridge was a leader!
In his ruling, Judge Horowitz found that the campus' amended computer use policy meets the constitutional standards of "reasonableness," required in non-public forum cases. Since the university's revised policy mooted the plaintiffs claims, the judge granted our motion for summary judgment.
We are very pleased with this decision and are very grateful for our General Counsel's office and Ms. Donna Ziegler's advice and representation of our case. This case represents an area of emerging law related to university policies on Internet and Web page access that we may expect to be tested further in the courts. We will keep you informed should the plaintiff appeal the judge's ruling.
I know this decision was a great disappointment to our development partners, Cousins/Hopkins, who have worked hard and long with us during the last two years to achieve our original goal of providing a revenue stream for the university's academic mission. Our developers' professionalism, expertise and willingness to work with the campus and its surrounding community interest groups was a textbook example of the spirit of partnering and cooperation, and we hold them in high regard for their many efforts to reach an acceptable compromise on the project.
A beneficial outcome of our many conversations surrounding this project has been the creation of a concept plan for the development of the entire 65 acres of the North Campus. The concept plan was developed by a 28-member Task Force of university faculty and staff, community organizations, and homeowner's associations, that I appointed last April. Their efforts represent the spirit of thoughtful compromise that is possible even among divergent interests. Using the task force concept plan as a foundation, and hoping to enhance the university/community consultation process, we will continue to pursue joint public/private partnerships to develop our real estate assets and further our academic mission. We expect to go back to the Board of Trustees at a later date with a comprehensive master plan for the North Campus that will provide appropriate facilities and/or revenues to support the strategic priorities of the campus.
As in the past, I will host two back-to-back sessions in order to welcome the greatest possible participation of the total campus. The first session is scheduled from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and the second session is scheduled between 1:00 and 2:00 p.m. I will look forward to seeing you on November 5.
Blenda J. Wilson
President
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