Update from the Provost: Welcome to the Fall Semester

发送日期:2023年8月30日

发件人:文森特·J. 德尔·卡西诺., Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs

亲爱的同事们,

I hope this note finds you well and somewhat settled as the second week of the semester 开始. I wanted to begin this semester by thanking all the staff, department chairs and directors, and administrators who have worked hard over the summer to make sure we could enroll our largest first-year class ever, 4500 students! 我们的咨询社区 has stepped up in a significant way this summer, helping students enroll, while also supporting a re-enrollment campaign that has helped thousands of returning students. In addition, faculty and professional staff advisors have matriculated another ~3000 新转学生. Many faculty members had to tackle new preparations as our course schedules shifted over the summer as well. 这种登记在一个国家是至关重要的 time when the California State University system is examining how it will fund campuses in the future as enrollments continue to shift throughout the state. 我也想 recognize the team in the College of 科学, who in partnership with FD&做了什么? a tremendous amount of work this summer, preparing to launch our first classes in the new Interdisciplinary 科学 Building. 系主任和主任们 with associate deans and deans have also had to deliver a course schedule that accommodates all our students while also addressing the challenges of a 预算 cut this year. 

As I enter my fifth year as provost, I want to reflect on our current condition and offer some comments on what I think that condition means for 菠菜网lol正规平台. 就像你们一样 well aware by now, the campus has a structural deficit that required Academic Affairs to cut $7M from its base 预算 this year. We have managed about half of that amount at the divisional level, leveraging resources to offset cuts while also tightening 预算s across central departments and programs. 这使我们能够维护RSCA program, continue investing in our faculty by funding all qualified sabbatical this year, and onboard a cohort of 40 new tenured/tenure-track faculty. 尽管如此， 还有3美元.5M cut in the colleges, which has largely come from operations 还有教学预算. While these cuts certainly present challenges, it is noteworthy that we are 60%+ of the campus 预算, but our percentage of the overall base 预算 cut this year is just over 30% of the total cuts realized. 简而言之， administration has tried to cut strategically while moving toward a more balanced 预算. 

在那里 is more to learn about where we are and what has driven these challenges and I encourage every一个 to attend the Budget Summit on September 14th. 我会跟随 the discussion at the campus 预算 event by hosting a second Divisional Budget Summit in October, where I will delve deeper into what was presented in the spring semester. I plan to focus on alternative enrollment models that involve leveraging PaCE program growth and dig deeper into how changes in our student enrollments impact our everyday 预算的现实. I have also asked Vice President Abousalem to join me at this summit to share the overall 预算 picture for the Division of 研究与创新. I think it is important that every一个 has a chance to better understand what is happening 在我们的研究和创新领域.

While this 预算 environment is less than ideal and no 一个 relishes the impact that comes with 预算 retrenchment, what I have learned over the last four years is that 我们现在不能退却. We have to assess what we are doing, make hard decisions about what we can afford and what we can’t afford, and then invest to continue the upward trajectory this campus has seen despite a pandemic. 这意味着我们还需要 to look toward ways to bring resources to the campus. 因此，我们必须变得更加 aggressive in our enrollment goals, focusing not only on our historical “bread and butter”—CA first-year and transfer students—but also non-resident US-based students, international students, and the often mislabeled “non-traditional students,” adult learners who now make up up the majority of college-going students in the United States. 

Entering year five, I remain excited about what we can do and where we can go. 在那里 is no question that 菠菜网lol正规平台 is well positi一个d to meet its new enrollment goals, streamline processes that make our campus a challenge to navigate for students, faculty, and staff, and continue to create more pathways for students to realize their own success. 

I want to thank you for doing so much work to prepare for this semester. 尽管 预算 situation, I remain optimistic about 菠菜网lol正规平台 and what this community can and will do to support our students, advance our mission as a leading (and critical) voice in our community, and leverage the faculty and staff talent on our campus to address some of our society’s most important questions through our robust RSCA program. 

As always, please reach out if you have any questions. 

真诚地,
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