This is President Jolene Koester's Blog. The following page is a three column layout with a header that contains a quicklinks jump menu and the search CSUN function. Page sections are identified with headers. The footer contains update, contact and emergency information.
The text to the President’s 10th Annual Convocation address, delivered on Thursday, August 20th, has been posted. It can be found here.
One of my goals with this blog is to point to more detailed information and resources for those who wish to delve more deeply into the various issues facing Cal State Northridge and gain a fuller understanding than can be provided here. It’s important for a public institution like Northridge to be transparent, and I encourage everyone to avail themselves of this information.
These also include my formal announcements and communications to the campus community, which are usually posted at the President’s Office website . These include letters to the campus community and speeches.
Two new documents have just been posted at the website that many of you may find of interest.
The first is an update to the FAQs on the 2008-09 Budget Situation. Originally posted on October 17, 2008, we have continued to update the FAQ in response to the changing state budget situation. (Previous updates to the document were added on October 23, November 13 and December 5, 2008.) With the FAQ, I have tried to answer questions and address concerns that faculty, staff and students may have about the evolving budget situation and how it affects our work at Cal State Northridge.
It is my hope that having a good understanding about the facts and the University’s ongoing efforts will provide reassurance that Cal State Northridge remains focused on its mission and goals. All around us we see continued evidence of the University’s good work, and the impact we make on the lives of students and the people in the community. We should always remember and take great pride in the fact that our work here is an investment in the future, and the success and excellence of our students bears this out every day.
The second document is my prepared remarks for my address at this year’s faculty retreat from January. It is always a privilege for me to attend the annual faculty retreat and to interact with our outstanding faculty. The theme of this year’s retreat, “Fifty and Fabulous: Foundations for the Future,” was an opportunity to celebrate what the institution has accomplished and to look ahead to the future. During my address, I had the opportunity to speak about the five features that have been part of the Cal State Northridge story since the beginning: stewardship of place, a distinguished faculty, a commitment to academic quality, partnerships with our region, and a carefully planned approach to our physical campus. I then was given the task of predicting what we might expect at the institution in the next 50 years! While I describe this task in my address as a risky endeavor, the exercise nonetheless gave me an opportunity to see how much change the University has undergone in just the past few years and to also understand that we can determine our destiny with good foresight and planning. My thanks to Faculty President Jennifer Matos and the members of the Faculty Retreat Planning, co-chaired by Terri Lisagor, Department of Family and Consumer Sciences, and Mike Rivas, Department of Secondary Education, for their fine work in organizing this year’s very productive and memorable faculty retreat.
I hope you find these recent communications, and the others posted at the President’s Office website, of interest.
Yesterday, I had the pleasure to deliver my ninth convocation address as president of Cal State Northridge. This annual event brings together faculty and staff for a morning coffee and is a wonderful way for everyone to come together as a community as we prepare for a new academic year. The new academic year, 2008-09, is especially significant because it marks Cal State Northridge’s 50th anniversary. So this year’s convocation address was an opportunity to talk about how far we’ve come since our founding and what lies ahead in our future.
The title of this year’s convocation address is “California State University, Northridge: 50 Years of Life-Changing Opportunity.” Anyone wishing to review my remarks can find it posted at http://www.csun.edu/presofc/speeches/2008convocation.html. A video streaming version of the address will be posted and announced shortly, and be linked at the above website as soon as it becomes available.