April 18, 2013
University Update
TO: SDSU Faculty and Staff
FROM:
President Elliot Hirshman
Provost Nancy Marlin
Vice Presidents Sally Roush, Mary Ruth Carleton and James Kitchen
Vice President and Graduate Dean Stephen Welter
The
spring semester is rapidly coming to a close. As we begin to focus our
attention on commencement, there is much information to share and to
celebrate.
Building on Excellence
The
university's strategic planning process, which began in July 2012,
reached an important milestone with the publication of the strategic
plan on April 15. “Building on Excellence” focuses on three broad
institutional goals, Student Success, Research and Creative Endeavors,
and Community and Communication. The plan focuses our efforts for
success by building on areas of excellence and the values we share at
SDSU. The plan establishes a clear direction for the next several years.
We would like to thank the many members of the university community
who participated in the process.
The
process, however, is not over. As we begin the implementation phase,
there will be opportunities for broad community participation. Updates
and additional information about the implementation of the plan will be
provided in the near future. To read the full strategic plan and to stay
informed about the process, visit the strategic planning website.
University Budget
The
Governor's Proposed 2013/14 Budget for the state of California was
released in January, as was reported in a prior University Update.
While we are waiting for the “May revise” budget and Legislative action
leading to a final state budget for 2013/14, we have reviewed our
funding status for the remainder of this year. Due to our long-standing
conservative budget approach and the revenue initiatives we have
undertaken, we have accumulated sufficient one-time funds for allocation
this year. The President's Budget Advisory Committee (PBAC) met on
March 14 and considered divisional recommendations for use of these
one-time funds. PBAC recommended allocating $9 million for
instructional equipment, lab upgrades, critical repairs to the steam
system that serves the campus, additional support for The Campaign for
SDSU, and facility improvements in support of student recruitment
activities and student career services. President Hirshman approved
this recommendation and allocated an additional $1 million in support of
research and creative endeavors. After the allocation of these
one-time funds, the university retains a one-time reserve going into
next fiscal year that is sufficient to provide a cushion against
unanticipated negative budget occurrences.
Allocation
of base budget funds for 2013/14 will be the subject of PBAC meetings
through June. The release of the state's “May revise” will enable us to
make a considered judgment about the amount of funding available for
allocation, and PBAC will recommend a 2013/14 budget to President
Hirshman by mid-June. We are optimistic that there will be additional
funds available for continuing and one-time purposes in the coming year.
PBAC information is available on the Budget and Finance website.
Campaign for SDSU
The
Campaign for SDSU is now at $395 million with over 41,000 gifts made by
alumni, friends, faculty, staff, parents and community partners. Ten
percent of the gifts to The Campaign have come from SDSU faculty and
staff. Over $211 million of the total has been designated for faculty
and program support and another $55 million for student success. This
year is on track to break all records for fundraising at SDSU, an
extraordinary effort by our deans, chairs, faculty, students, staff and
fundraisers.
High-Impact Practices
The
University continues to promote student success through internships and
other high-impact practices. To advance our initiatives, Provost Marlin
and Vice President Kitchen created the Campus Internship Committee
(CIC). The CIC is a collaborative of representatives from Academic
Affairs, Student Affairs, Business and Financial Affairs, and Associated
Students working to ensure quality educational experiences for students
who participate in a range of internships. These efforts will allow the
University to demonstrate how students are involved with internships,
with what impacts, and how they are supported by consistent campus
practices. Dr. James Tarbox serves as the chair of the CIC.
Additionally,
our university continues to help students study abroad, another
high-impact practice, and to achieve distinction as Fulbright Scholars.
More than 40 students have been granted Fulbright awards since 2005, and
to date seven more have been granted awards for 2013-2014.
Support for Campus Scholarship
The
campus has initiated several programs totaling $1 million dollars that
are intended to strengthen opportunities for academic scholarship by
faculty and students at SDSU. A call was sent out to all colleges for
strategic investments in infrastructure, equipment or one-time resources
ranging between $50,000 to 200,000. In addition, a program was
announced which, on approval, offered to fund pre-review of grants by
external reviewers in the area of expertise prior to submission so as to
help with faculty grant success.
Large
collaborative grants or federal training grants for graduate students
can often have significant transformative effects on departments, but
the time required for the creation of these proposals can also be
significant. Upon approval, funds will be allocated to support release
time for a faculty member to pay for a replacement lecturer to offset
some of the instructor's teaching requirements while ensuring that
campus teaching needs are being met. Examples of federal programs
include Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship Program
at NSF (IGERT) (NSF), NIH Institutional Research Training Grants, NIH
Program Planning grants, multi-faculty NEA grants, or large
inter-disciplinary grants.
Our Gratitude
As
we finish the spring semester, it is important to recognize the
collective contribution of our faculty and staff. Between May 16 and
May 19, we will confer 9038 degrees; this would not be possible without
your commitment and dedication. Thank you for all that you do to
support the university.