CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY, NORTHRIDGE
EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES COMMITTEE___________________________________________
MINUTES OF MEETING 2/14/12_______ APPROVED BY COMMITTEE__________________
Sub. To Exec. Comm. ____________________ Approved by Exec. Comm._____________________
Sub. To Acad. Senate _____________________ Approved by Acad. Senate _____________________
POLICY ITEMS _____________________________________________________________________
Members Present: Michael Barrett, Sandra Chong, Nazaret Dermendjian, James Dow, Robert Kladifko,
Jerry Schutte (Chair), Diane Stephens, Veda Ward
Members Absent: Ric Alviso, Barry Cleveland
1. Call to Order
The meeting was called to order at 2:05 p.m.
2. Approval of the Agenda
The agenda was approved.
3. Approval of Minutes from December 13, 2011 Meeting
The minutes for December 13, 2011 were approved with one correction to number six.
4. Chair’s Report
During the previous ATC meeting, a guest from CSU Online, which is now known as Cal State
Online, attended the meeting. Schutte mentioned it was a very interesting meeting because it
dispelled a number of stereotypes. One of them is that Cal State Online is mandated to only use
self sustaining programs and there will not be General Fund interaction with Cal State Online.
The Virtual Software Lab (VSL) is now open to all students on campus. In order to access this as
a faculty member, faculty will have to register with IT as a person who is teaching a class where
students are assigned to use a program with VSL.
5. Executive Secretary’s Report
Stephens stated that the Governor’s Budget includes a trigger reduction of $200M to the CSU.
Because budget depends on the results of the November ballot, will start planning for reductions.
There will be more information regarding this at the next ERC meeting.
Although there are budget cuts, CSUN is still hiring the 46 faculty on the approved hiring list for
2012/13. This includes 30 centrally-funded new positions, nine carry-forward positions from
2011/12 process, and seven college-funded positions (including several librarians). The
University is also building a schedule at 5% over the CSU target. The margin of error next year
is expected to be -1% and +5% for campuses, with anything outside of that subject to penalty.
Colleges have presented plans for computer lab reductions. Many of the plans call for conversion
of existing labs to lecture/lab combinations. This improves room utilization as idle time in labs
will be filled with lecture sections. Ten labs are scheduled for this kind of conversion this year in
five colleges. Additionally, three computer labs in one college will be converted into two lecture
rooms. If the lecture/lab combinations are counted, it would represent a reduction of about 13%
against a goal of 30% over five years.
IT and college techs are currently installing thin clients in the remainder of the 230 lecture rooms
by the end of the semester. IT has also upgraded projectors, and all classrooms now have a
standard Extron control panel. With the purchase of new software and equipment, IT can now
monitor classroom systems remotely and help fix problems when called from the classroom
without sending out a tech, unless necessary. IT is also installing cables and cable hooks on the
outside of AV boxes throughout campus. This allows for storage of cables used for faculty laptop
use on instructor desks and cables should no longer be damaged because they are left out.
Construction will start soon on a new introductory Mathematics lab space on the 3rd floor of Live
Oak Hall. To minimize disruption and noise, work will be completed at night. This area may be
labeled “STEM Student Success Center” or “Mathematics Center” and will house classes and
labs for some of Developmental Math and Mathematics . Nordhoff Hall 113 is a new large
lecture hall; it should be completed by end of the spring semester and scheduled for use in the fall
with about 180 seats.
The Academic Affairs Web Team is up and running as a matrix organization with central staff
and personnel from VISCOM, Pioneering Technology Group, Universal Design Center, and the
User-Centered Design and Experience Group. The Web Team is working with the Web
Coordination Group in Drupal “WebOne” implementation. They will work on a college-bycollege basis, starting with MCCAMC.
6. CSU Academic Senate Report
Chong stated that a study on fees will be coming out and will be shared at the Higher Education
Symposium here at CSUN on April 2nd and 3rd.
Charles B. Reed indicated there are five CSU presidential seats that are currently open and nine
out of the current 23 presidents are from the system. He mentioned that quite a few statewide
senators are worried we are bringing people from outside and not from within.
There is a 50-year celebration being planned in March 2013 for the Statewide Senate
Establishment. The Higher Education Symposium will be held at CSUN on April 2nd and 3rd for
funding the future of the CSU has been announced at the Statewide Academic Senate. Each of
campus provost has been sent a letter requesting that they gather a team of folks to attend the
event.
Fullerton and CSUN started doing presidential searches and processes of selecting the President
at about the same time. Fullerton has an interim President and they decided not to hold an on
campus visit for their candidate. CSUN is behind because we stopped our process to get a
broader applicant pool. Our interview is now set for February 22nd and March 12th. Provost
Harry Hellenbrand has been appointed Interim President for January until the end of summer.
The assumption is that the new president will be in place by fall and the decision will be made by
April or May.
At the Chancellor’s Office, they are looking at many different ways to consolidate and streamline
services to cut costs. Four committees have appointed campus presidents to lead these
committees. These committees will be:
Looking at CMS and how to better handle Accounts Payable
To examine restrictions such as Executive Orders and Title 5 funding to see how we
could utilize those funding and how would could go around it
Examining online instruction
Three northern California campuses have lost their police services and are sharing their
police support
Regarding Cal State Online, there are about 60+ programs offered online across campuses and
with no clear mission statements. The goal is to streamline this.
Early Start begins this summer with the lowest quartile. Students are told that it is mandatory to
attend but there will be a lot of flexibility because some students will not be allowed to attend
their home campus or if a campus near their home does not offer the class.
7. Spring Enrollment and Continuation Rates
Bettina Huber (Time Certain: 3:00 p.m.)
Huber distributed four handouts. The first had two tables summarizing FTES and headcount
Spring enrollment during the first three weeks of the semester. The FTES figures shown in
Table 1 indicate that our internal target of 25,740 had been exceeded by 2% (or 512 FTES) at
the end of the third week of classes. The projected census FTES, which includes non-resident
students, is 26,292. Table 2 indicates that the number of continuing students increased by 798
heads during the first three weeks of classes, with 106 new students accounting for the
remaining net growth in heads. When examined by class level, the greatest growth in
enrollment during the first three weeks of classes is among post-baccalaureate students. The
number of Seniors, followed by Juniors, grew disproportionately as well during the first three
weeks of classes.
The bottom row of Table 2 indicates that the average unit load three weeks after the start of
classes was 11.30. This compares poorly to an average load of 11.78 units in the Spring 2011
semester. However, it is not much lower than the 11.42 average unit load in Spring 2010,
when there were not as many limitations on number of units allowed as there are now.
Huber’s second hand-out showed projected 2011-12 resident FTES enrollment figures three
weeks after the start of Spring classes. The estimate shown for likely new transfers is 1,255
heads and 1,686 FTES for likely non-resident students. Actual resident enrollment for Fall
2011 is 27,998 FTES and for Spring 2012 it is estimated at 24,606 FTES. The 2011/12
resident target is 25,270 FTES; the campus is expected to exceed it by 4.3%.
Huber’s third hand-outs dealt with the number and percentage of CSUN students attempting
12 or more units at different points in recent Spring terms. Both have remained relatively
unchanged for Seniors. However, the percentages for Freshmen, Sophomores, and Juniors
have fluctuated, rising between Spring 2010 and Spring 2011 and declining again between
Spring 2011 and Spring 2012. The number of CSUN students attempting 12 or more units
two weeks after the start of classes, in contrast, has increased over the past three Spring
semesters. The largest increase was for Juniors, 6,126 of whom attempted 12 or more units in
Spring 2012 versus 4,930 in Spring 2010.
Huber’s last hand-out showed one-year continuation rates for freshman and transfer cohorts
entering CSUN during the 1999-2009 period. Separate figures are shown for Traditionally
Underserved Students (African Americans, Latinos, Native Americans, and Pacific Islanders)
and Better Served Students (all other students except international students, who are
excluded). Although the one-year continuation rates for Better Served freshmen consistently
exceed those for Traditionally Underserved students, the subgroup rates for transfer students
are largely indistinguishable.
8. Procedures and Costs for Replacing President (search, salary, perks)
Ward stated that a search firm assisted with the search of the candidates and the Presidential
committee will start interviewing candidates next week. Once the President is in place, Interim
President Harry Hellenbrand will return to his position as Provost.
9. Announcements
Ward asked if ERC would be interested in presenting to Associated Students (AS) and give them
a presentation on what this committee does and how it relates to student choices. Schutte stated
that if it would help AS understand more about the ERC committee, then he would gladly attend.