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CONVOCATION, FALL 1997
California State University, San
Bernardino
Albert K. Karnig
Good morning. I want to welcome you back to campus for the beginning of a new academic year. And I want to thank so many of you for warmly welcoming Marilyn and me to the university. We're both excited finally to be here to work with you all in helping to further develop this wonderful institution.
Let me in fact introduce Marilyn. Would you stand up? (We’re easy to recognize. We're the tall blond couple!) Please take time to introduce yourself to her.
Before we move to other items, as a newcomer, I want to make a few comments about CSUSB. In so many ways, the university is right on the mark – whether you look at the grounds – so beautifully maintained—or the excellent facilities built over the years – with ten in the last decade. (It's also remarkable how you have the mountains on rollers -- so one day you can see them, and the next you can't.)
In addition, I’ve been enormously impressed with the credentials and productivity of the faculty and the professionalism and industriousness of the staff I’ve met.
I’ve also been delighted by the students—ranging from fresh-scrubbed 18 year-olds to grandmoms and granddads older than we are; an enrollment of over 60% women, with give or take a few percentage points 25% Hispanics, 10% African Americans, and another 10% Asian American and Pacific Islanders, and 55% Anglos.
The community is as textured as the student body -- with great ethnic and racial heterogeneity, as well as enormous social class disparities. The mix of students and population offer early images of the world soon to come to most of the U.S. and many parts of the world, as well.
Finally, our mission is exactly the right one for today and for tomorrow. It is to offer an opportunity for a future—to those who are less affluent, site bound, changing careers or wishing to reenter the workforce, who are first generation to attend college, later bloomers, and those who don’t make the foolish mistake of confusing selectivity and price on the one side with quality and value on the other.
Let’s not ourselves make that silly error. I believe there’s incredible value on our campus. What we offer is an opportunity for those with dreams but not always with select pedigrees. That’s our role – and it’s what brings me great anticipatory pleasure about telling the CSU San Bernardino story. I’m very proud to be here!
I owe you all a deep debt of gratitude for what you’ve already accomplished -- from President Tony Evans, whose signature is all over this outstanding campus; to the faculty who’ve developed and implemented an excellent array of programs; to staff who’ve worked to provide the myriad support needed for institutional excellence; to the diverse student body which is essential for a successful university; to administrators who’ve labored long and deliberatively through some rocky financial times.
Thank you all, and thanks as well to the presidential search committee for your votes of confidence in me.
The convocation today will proceed in the following order:
· I’ll note several significant actions taken by the CSU Board of Trustees at their meeting,
· Ask for a moment of silence in memory of two campus colleagues who died this past year,
· And announce the winners of staff awards.
· Then I’ll outline the principles I’ll rely upon while I serve as president,
· Suggest some alternative university futures,
· Discuss the ways I anticipate using my time,
· And chat a bit about some funding from the Chancellor’s office.
· Then I’ll open the floor to questions – even if it looks like we’re running late.
Before I move to the Board actions, I want to assure you that I believe deeply in accountability. In fact, if you think I’m wrong on issues, have poor standards, or that I’m behaving unethically or unscrupulously, there needs to be stern accountability. Under those circumstances, I urge you to place blame on members of the search committee who recommended me.
(1)
Let me identify some major actions at the trustee meeting
earlier this week ….
(2) Moment of silence ….
(3) Announcement of staff awards ….
I’d like to now discuss the principles that will govern my actions while I am president, as well as future alternatives for our campus and related issues. An outline of my comments is circulating so you can review the points at your convenience.
The principles that I’ll mention are not inclusive of all possible affirmative values. The list simply seeks to identify key bases that I’ll try to employ. In formulating the items, I’ve reflected on what I value in the behavior, processes and policies of others. So I’m really offering a statement that won’t be found in any textbook. However, I believe the components should have broad universality.
As I meet you all around campus – in formal sessions with various units or at informal times that I’ve set aside -- I need to know if you disagree with any of the principles. Also, I need to be informed whenever you believe my actions are inconsistent with elements on the outline. (It’s really ok to blame me instead of the search committee.) Finally, unless someone justifies otherwise, I’d surely expect the very same principles to guide our university community in general.
Each of the principles is intended to advance excellence and distinctiveness – concepts that I’ll return to in a few moments. The principles relate to behavior, to process, and to policy.
Behaviors marked by:
1. Integrity -- consistently meaning what we say and saying what we mean.
2. Amicability -- a forthcoming attitude which builds relationships, instead of
unnecessary coolness and hostility.
- Responsiveness -- meeting the needs of those seeking assistance -- respectfully, accurately and, where possible, swiftly.
- Caring and celebration -- a place with concern for one another and frequent observance of successes.
Processes that:
- Promote community -- with myriad unit, division and university-wide activities,
receptions and other events.
6. Advance collegiality, participation and consultation -- where possible,
involving the campus in the university's decisions and directions.
7. Engage and empower -- with opportunities for participation that go beyond the
merely symbolic.
8. Reflect campus diversity -- by being thoughtful about its many aspects and
ultimately serving as a model for other universities.
Policies that:
- Concentrate on long-term (as well as
short-term) objectives -- rather than banging hard decisions onto
someone else's court or shifting them onto someone else's future watch.
10. Have clear goals and outcomes in mind -- instead of developing fuzzed-up and
murky objectives in order to secure near-term support; the intent should be to
leave the university a better place in the future.
11. Emphasize student, faculty and staff development -- because students are the
reason for the university's existence, and faculty and staff are the reason for the university's success.
12. Decentralize decisions to levels accountable for outcomes -- with both local
decision-making and the assumption of responsibility pivotal in meeting
university goals.
13. Are faithfully and successfully executed -- with equal attention and concern
devoted to effective implementation at the end as to process issues at the beginning.
Let me now turn to alternative university choices for the future.
The first alternative is to have no clearly stated directions or ways to judge success – or to move in all directions at once. We can stay out of the sun. In that way, there will be no risk, threat, or peril of failure. Most of us do this almost all of time. It’s a real possibility – but one that should chosen consciously.
Second, we can do things better than others – better teaching, research, and/or service. As I’ll mention, there are many ways of assessing success. We can compete on the grounds that have been laid out for higher education – and measure our successes.
(3) Third, it's possible to do things differently than others – for example, we can introduce different kinds of requirements, educational experiences, interactions with faculty, undergraduate engagement in research, distance education and so on. This is an option often employed by smaller and church-related institutions.
(4) Finally, we can also do different things than others – for example, adopt an urban university perspective with close partnerships and great presence off campus; community-based capstone courses and research products; involvement in non-traditional education….
There is a battery of indicators of levels of excellence–doing things better than others do:
In liberal arts colleges there are many input measures, e.g., admission requirements, student high school class rankings, SAT scores, percent students accepted, but also graduates’ GRE scores, international experiences, cost per student, class size, retention and graduation rates, pass rates on licensure exams; s-f ratios; endowment funds per student; alumni giving rates; satisfaction of surveys; peer group reputation and so on.
In research universities, admission requirements and the percent students accepted are similar to liberal arts colleges. However, extramural funding overall, by discipline, and by faculty member is key, as well as Carnegie Foundation classification, size of Ph.D. program(s), National Research Council ranking of Ph.D. programs, publication citations, funding multiplier effects, membership in various academies, AAU membership, and peer group reputation.
Let me suggest that we have neither the mission nor the resources to compete with select liberal arts colleges or research universities. How then should we evaluate success in activities that are generally the same as those of other universities? How will we know if we’re at the “next level”?
The possibilities include using what sometimes goes by the acronym CASH: a small set of Comparators, e.g., with CSU or Delaware data); Averages (among a very large numbers of institutions); Standards (i.e., an absolute goal); and History (for CSUSB over a period of time).
Beyond doing things better than others, there is the possibility of distinctiveness – doing things differently or doing different things. Distinctiveness might be rooted in various dimensions of relative uniqueness and/or strength. A few illustrative possibilities for us include:
1. The urban and rural areas in an enormous service domain of 27,000 square miles.
2. Student and population mix in Inland Empire – which is among the nation’s most diverse.
3. Social welfare and economic development needs of the communities we serve.
4. The rare blend of teaching mission/focus and scholarly interests. This is one I’m especially interested in.
5. Ready partnerships with community, public- and private-sector organizations. And
6. Natural disasters and responses of various kinds – given faults, fire, floods and wind.
There are countless others that may be proposed – hopefully during meetings that I’ll have across campus and with the Strategic Planning Steering Council. I solicit everyone’s input on these vital issues.
I'll request that the Council recommend areas in which CSUSB could excel and/or be distinctive. The group has been meeting for about two years. I'll ask that finalized planning recommendations, conditioned by proposed areas of excellence and distinctiveness, be formulated by the beginning of the winter quarter.
Let me say a few words about my personal goals and the uses of time. My issue is how to make the need to spend 80% of my time on campus and 70% off campus sum to 100%.
I’ll spend time on-campus to promote campus climate and governance, with myriad visits to advance my learning -- to schools, divisions, departments and other organizations and groups. I'll set aside times in the mornings, noon hour and evenings to meet, separately, with interested faculty, staff and students. I'll also seek to promote a student-centered orientation; work to complete the interim WASC report (and March visit); and engage in planning and line organization activities with vice presidents, et al.
With regard to off-campus goals, I'll concentrate on community and legislative relations; development of partnerships with a mix of civic associations, public- and private-sector entities, K-12 and other institutions of higher education; fundraising with various supporters; vital alumni relations – which must start with the faculty; system involvement (to help give CSUSB a voice and a fair share of resources); as well as general marketing, promoting and celebrating CSUSB on a variety of fronts.
Given the need for much off-campus activity and the fact that we are the only developed campus without an executive assistant in the president’s office, the Chancellor’s Office has offered to transfer permanent funding for a greater level of support, specifically for an executive assistant, and a one-time transfer of $600,000 to provide seed money for possible initiatives or one-time expenditures to leave CSUSB better over the long haul.
Illustrative expenditure possibilities range from a community needs assessment to distance learning, instructional labs and other technology, Art Museum start-up, enrollment management, the presidential installation, a teaching-learning initiative, telecounseling software, a student handbook, a grant writer and many others. Proposals will wend their way through a process to the Budget Committee.
Thanks for your attentiveness. I’m eager to start on the next stage of our campus’s development. While there are abundant challenges, anyone with experience outside this university would quickly identify our people and physical resources as outstanding – and our opportunities as invigorating. I hope you’ll join me and your colleagues in what I believe to be a remarkably promising future.
As I visit with you formally or informally, I’m inviting you to take advantage of the opportunity to school me on how we can better excel and be distinguished. I look forward to learning as much as possible from these visits.
I’d be happy to answer any questions you might have. But please recall that when tough questions are asked, I tend to get laryngitis.