Capitol Hill Day- Washington DC

I accompanied several other Trustees and Chancellor's Office staff to Washington DC to visit our California Delegation in Congress. In the morning, our gathering of CSU leadership were provided a briefing from our DC staff headed by Jim Gelb. Our priority projects included the Agricultural Research Initiative, CSUPERB Biotech Partnerships, COAST, Strategic Language Initiative, Water Resources and Policy Initiative and Metro Academic Initiative.

I accompanied Sonoma State in visting with Congressman Lynn Woolsey and Congressman Mike Thompson's office as well as CSU East Bay to Congressman Jerry McNerney and Chico with Congressman Wally Herger.

Chancellor Reed was present in the Education Committee, Chaired by California Congressman George Miller. At that time Secretary of Education Arne Duncan testified before the Committee on the importance of continuing to invest in education.

California State University has benefited greatly with the support of Congress for the Pell Grant program Students receiving Pell Grants receive approximately $5,700 per year. The CSU has 126,000 Pell Grant receipients and has received an increase of $84 million over the last several years.

CSU Advocacy Training Conference-Los Angeles

An absolutely outstanding program was provided by our Advocacy and Institutional Relations staff headed by Karen Zamarippa. The program began with a presentation by Dr. Peter Navarro from UC Irvine. Mr. Navarro provided an Economic Outlook and a vision for California's Recovery.

A very lively discussion was next when political consultants Dan Schnur(R) and Steve Maviglio (D) talked about California Election process and Political Reform. The back and forth format was quite entertaining.

Our lunch speaker was Chancellor Charlie Reed who provided a quick update on the current budget situation. His no nonsense approach was enjoyed by those in attendance.

In the afternoon, Ryan McPherson for the University of Buffalo Government Relations staff provided a session on what successful advocacy models in other states.

Former Senator Jim Brulte presented a very frank and entertaining program on effective Sacramento advocacy.

The day concluded with Karen Zamarippa and Robert Turnage discussing key legislative and budget issues for the year ahead.

Campus Visit- CSU Monterey Bay

My visit to the campus started with a tour of the Seafloor Mapping Lab on campus. Dr. Rikk Kvitek, Director presented a very interesting tour showing their earth systems technology program. I was first introduced to Dr. Kvitek when presented his program at the Board of Trustees meeting in January. I continue to be amazed at the applied technology being on campuses involving undergraduate students. CSUMB's program maps the floor of the ocean and shows the movement of the land under the ocean. This program profile is available at http://www.seafloor.csumb.edu.

In addition, Pilar Gose provided a complete day and a half of visits including the Advancement team, Alumni Board members, and Student Leaders including Zoe Carter, ASI President and Chair of the CSSA Board.

Campus Visit- San Francisco State University

An amazing today was planned for the campus at SFSU. The morning began with the Executive Committee of the Academic Senate. Senate Chair Shawn Whalen introduced me to the leadership of the Faculty organization on campus. A discussion on Facilitating Graduation as well as student financial aid were the main topics along with the need for advocacy in the system as well as legislative accountability.

In addition, I met with the President's Cabinet, University Advancement team as well as the student leaders. The day was capped off with a foot tour of the campus.

I was very interested in the work being done on Intellectual Property policy developed by the campus and the possibility of using this as a template for other campuses.

Campus Visit- CSU San Marcos

I had the opportunity to visit with the President's management team involved with the development of the athletic facilities and the Advancement team. Matthew Ceppi and Neal Hoss were very excited about the future development and partnerships opportunities that had recently come their way. The campus has done a great job with communicating with the City of San Marcos and the business community regarding the campus master plan. The future looks bright in San Marcos.

Campus Visit-San Diego State University

This visit to SDSU was primarily visit with the Alumni Association staff, visit the new Alumni facility and check in with the Director of the Honors program that travels aboard to the island of Cyprus.

The Alumni Building at SDSU is clearly a case study in the engaging alumni. You have to see the building to understand how awesome a facility it is. I'm certain Jim Herrick and staff would be willing to share their success story.

California State Student Association- San Francisco State University

I had the opportunity to attend the morning session on the CSSA Board meeting. Our own Karen Yelverton-Zamarippa was the first speaker of the day and she provided a summary of what was going on in Sacramento on behalf of the system and the focus of our legislative program. Following Karen was Assemblyman Alberto Torrico who was pitching is legislation AB 656.

Our students asked great questions on how any legislation was going to benefit students. I am truly impressed with the level of competency of our student leaders. Check out the CSSA website at http://www.csustudents.org The campaign MADE IN THE CSU rocks.