Statewide Academic Senate Report November 2006Michael Reagan

With thanks to Steve Stepanek.

Five resolutions were passed. One affects all campuses, recommending a change to the laboratory science requirement for freshman admission, aligning the CSU requirement with the UC requirement for two years of lab science in high school from physics, chemistry, or biology. CSU currently requires biology and one of the other two.

The other resolutions passed are addressed to the Trustees and the Chancellor, calling for:

  • Completing the original Cornerstones principles 4 (support for faculty), 6 (graduate programs), and 8 (infrastructure).
  • Advocating for additional CSU funding, beyond the “Compact.”
  • Progress in implementing ACR 73 – to increase the percentage of tenured and tenure track faculty to 75%.
  • Academic freedom for CSU International Exchange and Study-Abroad Programs.

The resolutions packet as sent to the Chancellor is available at

Resolutions Presented for Discussion (First Reading – now is the time to comment on these to any of the Northridge Statewide Senators, Michael Reagan , Barbara Swerkes , or Steve Stepanek – they will likely be voted on at the January plenary meeting):

  1. Resource Needs for High Quality Independent Ed.D. Programs in the CSU – urges the Chancellor to support funding of resources to support Ed.D. programs including interlibrary resources, campuses to use Ed.D. fee revenue to augment the funding of resources for Ed.D. programs, and campuses to augment the funding of required library resources for Ed.D. programs
  2. A Student Fee Policy That Supports Educational Outcomes – requests the Chancellor’s Office study the CSU Student Fee Policy to determine if changes would facilitate graduation efforts; current fee policy defines two fee levels: 0-6 units and 7+ units
  3. Principles to Guide the Application of the TCSU Numbering System for CSU System wide Articulation – TCSU courses that are part of LDTPs should still transfer even if a student does not complete the entire LDTP; provides a mechanism for campus challenges of individual TCSU articulations and a challenge appeal process
  4. Response to SB 1543 (Alarcon): High School Curriculum; High School Coursework Requirements – urges the Chancellor’s Office to establish a system wide faculty task force to address issues raised by SB 1543 related to Career technical Education courses as a-g general electives for purposes of admission to the CSU
  5. Support of the a-g Curriculum as California’s Primary High School Graduation Course Requirements – encourages high schools to prepare students for entry into college; strength of wording was critical discussion point
  6. Library Resource Needs For All Undergraduate and Graduate Programs – urges the Chancellor and campus presidents to seek funding to restore and improve library collections, improve student-library ratios, and address the challenge of improving information competency
  7. Recognition of Faculty Service in Governance – urges campus academic senates to consider establishing campus award programs to recognize exceptional faculty contributors to academic governance

The texts of SOME of the above resolutions as presented to the November plenary, but not as amended during the session, is provided at

Other Issues Discussed:

  1. Report on Services to Students with Disabilities – ADA issues that have led to cases brought against CSU campuses by the Office of Civil Rights.
  2. LDTP – first cycle of community college reviews in progress; second cycle to start shortly
  3. Keith Boyum, Assistant Vice Chancellor, Academic Affairs, stated a request has been made to the Dept of Finance for an additional $2M per year to the base CSU budget to handle ATI implementation
  4. Craig Smith, Faculty Trustee, discussed issue of remediation and admission policy; current policy expires the end of this academic year; a new policy to continue the remediation program will be developed; no changes to admission policy contemplated
  5. Gary Reichard, Executive Vice Chancellor and Chief Academic Officer, discussed the successor to Cornerstones, “Access to Excellence”; the strategic initiatives related to the new effort will be posted on the CSU website ( campus discussions regarding the strategic initiatives are to occur between now and early March 2007; plans for a statewide meeting in mid-April to focus the campus discussions into a statewide initiative
  6. Reichard announced the creation of two new statewide task forces: a) text book affordability – to explore how to reduce costs, and b) CSU review of student add/drop/repeat policies
  7. Reichard introduced Beth Ambos, the Interim Assistant Vice Chancellor for Research Initiatives and Partnerships; this new position will assist in supporting and coordinating multi-campus research activities

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