The Business of Getting an Education

Bernadette Cheyne, a member of California State University’s (CSU) Board of Trustees, replied to several questions asked by students and faculty during an open forum held on campus.

The Board of Trustees is responsible for the management, administration and control of state colleges. Cheyne is the only trustee representing CSU faculty while being a professor of theater, film and dance at Humboldt State University.

Cheyne said it’s her job to find issues from the ground level and then communicate them to her constituents. Cheyne said she wants to travel to every campus in order to understand the unique culture each has to offer.

“I appreciated her earnest but it seemed she was relatively on message, she was dismissive to a certain degree by fulfilling her responsibility [to the board],” Ezar LeBank said, an assistant professor in the theater department. “It’s frustrating that they’re interested in hearing, but not in changing.”

The forum raised questions about program eliminations and consolidations to which Cheyne said the board is discussing those topics. Regionalizing certain programs that do not attract high enrollment is a possibility.

“There is an increased cost and a decreased quality,” Cheyne said.

Most trustees work within the business world and few work within universities. Fiscal constraints are a reason board members are not able to visit campuses Cheyne said.  

“There were a lot of unanswered questions for a lot of people,” Jocelyn Sanchez said, a freshman theater major said she is unhappy with the cuts her department is experiencing.

Some students hunger for an education.

the DREAMERS

A revision to the DREAM ACT could potentially affect the number of applicable students attracted to CSULB -- a Hispanic serving institution.

The DREAM ACT stands for the development relief and education of alien minors. First introduced in 2001, the bill continues to lack Senate approval. The DREAM ACT intends to provide citizenship for alien minors if they complete two years of higher education or two years of military service.

“It’s a good thing. That way they [illegal immigrants] can contribute, opposed to being a parasite,” said Aaron Wild, a senior business major.

Florida senator, Marco Rubio wants to change the bill. Rubio wants to grant alien minors a legal status within the country through a nonimmigrant visa instead of citizenship. By changing the bill, Rubio intends to get Senate approval.

“The change is still good because at least it will give them [alien minors] hope,” said Juan Salazar a freshmen political science major. 

check out DREAM activists .

The Changing Face of Liberal Academia

CSULB professor Clorinda Donato recently resided as the chair of a search committee, responsible for appointing a new dean to the College of Liberal Arts (CLA).

The position for dean received 80 applicants. From those applicants 12 participated in “airport interviews,” (quick interviews that take place in a hotel near the airport). These airport interviews allowed the search committee a chance to get face time with each potential candidate.

The pool of 12 candidates dwindled down to five prospective deans. These five candidates then came on campus where forums hosted faculty, staff, and students. The forums gave everyone the opportunity to speak and ask questions.

The top five candidates were:

Bryant Alexander, CSU Los Angeles

Sachiko Matsunaga, CSU Los Angeles

Peter Nwosu, Tennessee State University

Brett Walker, Montana State University, Bozeman

David Wallace, University of Central Florida

Donato said the search committee sought a few qualifications in particular:

The committee wanted a candidate who is a published scholar.

Matsunaga published Japanese research.

Wallace published numerous poems.

And Walker recently published this book:  

                    

Donato said the committee wanted someone with interpersonal communication skills.

Alexander no long teaches but here are comments from his former students.

Donato said it was also important to have a dean with a vision.

Nwosu is currently the Vice Provost at Tennessee State University: 

 Donato said all the top contenders really believed in the CLA and have the foresight to enhance the synergy of the college as well as analyze its strengths and weaknesses.

 “We wanted someone who would be able to roll with the punches because there are definitely going to be a lot of punches,” Donato said.

Ultimately, Wallace accepted the position and will start July 1^st.  

thinking about Our Future

                                                                                                                        





CSULB assistant professor Andrew Ojede hosted the Federal Reserve Bank and a panel of economic students on Friday during CSULB’s Monetary Policy Symposium.

Here’s the flyer: http://www.csulb.edu/colleges/cla/departments/economics/documents/MonetaryPolicySymposium_000.pdf

The purpose of the symposium was to simulate the proceedings of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC). The FOMC creates the country’s monetary policy. This policy has the power to increase or decrease the number of dollars in the U.S. economy partly through their federal funds rate.

The federal fund rate is the short term interest rate banks charge each other for temporary loans, if one bank may find itself short of revenues. If the federal funds rate rises or falls, other interest rates often move in the same direction.  

CSULB economic students played the role of the FOMC by presenting their own 2013 monetary policies.

The symposium lasted for five hours with a unanimous conclusion that an increase to the federal funds rate is not desirable for the 2013 fiscal year.  

“This event would not have been possible without Andrew’s energy,” economics professor Alejandra Edwards said. 

Rehabilitation through Active Participation

After leaving Louisiana seven years ago, CSULB psychology professor, Christopher Warren will be returning to New Orleans this spring break to help reconstruct his old community.

Hurricane Katrina hit southeast Louisiana in August 2005. Warren  had to evacuate New Orleans during his last year of graduate school. He eventually made his way to CSULB in 2006.

Warren teaches a class at CSULB called: Politics of Disaster. The class focuses on civic engagement and the power encompassed by church level constituents all the way up to the president.

“It’s [the class] the most meaningful thing I’ve done at CSULB as a professor,” Warren said.

The class is going strong. In its seventh year, an application process is involved in the selection of students for the class. “There are usually more applicants than spots, that’s for sure,” said Warren.

This spring break, Warren will once again take his students to New Orleans and will work in conjunction with Habitat for Humanity to help rebuild homes in some of the most leveled communities. Warren notes those typically interested in the class are student leaders who are attracted to public health.

“Water runs away from the rich,” Warren said in regards to who the hurricane severely affected. “It’s mostly minorities and elderly that need our help.”

Culture at a Cost

The American Indian Studies department at CSULB is on the verge of downsizing--yet there continues to be a growing interest for the annual CSULB Pow Wow event on campus.

Current student enrollment for the American Indian Studies program on campus roughly holds about 170-180 students according to Troy Johnson, the American Indian Studies’ program director. CSULB holds an average of 35,557 enrolled students according to Rand California.

The American Indian Studies program itself does not offer a major within its discipline because the school cannot afford more classes for such a small number of students. The department offers a minor and certificate in American Indian studies.

“If the California tax increase does not get passed, there may be a new realignment of departments,” said Johnson, “into one grouped department relating to ethnic studies.”

This may be comprised of the Africana Studies, the Asian and Asian-American Studies, the Chicano and Latino Studies and the American Indian Studies. “We don’t want that,” said Johnson.

The potential realignment is due to a lack of enrollment and a lack of financial support. The department’s numbers do not reflect the turnout from the 42 annual American Indian Pow Wow. The event obtained higher attendance this year compared to previous years, according to vendors from the event.

“It is rather amazing to consider that one of the oldest and largest continuously running student sponsored campus events, with over six-thousand people in attendance, is organized by a few members of one of the smallest student populations at CSULB,” said Craig Stone, an American Indian Studies’ professor and liaison for this year’s Pow Wow event.

An Ordinary Teacher with an Extraordinary Experience

A CSULB Alumna, Erin Gruwell screened a documentary at the Carpenter Center on Monday which illustrated her journey of teaching 150 at-risk students from Woodrow Wilson High School in Long Beach, CA.

The documentary was entitled Stories From the Undeclared War where Gruwell's former students talk about their gang-affiliations, abuse and the support that Gruwell supplied.  The purpose of the documentary is to teach professionals in education about overlooked students and the stories they posses. 

"May you teach one to teach another," Gruwell said in regards to getting teenagers off the streets and into classrooms. 

From the four years that Gruwell taught at Wilson, her class collectively published The Freedom Writers Diary, detailing the struggles of their lives. The book has sold more than one million copies and has been republished in eight different languages. 

Erin Gruwell's actions also inspired a 21 million dollar movie called The Freedom Writers starring Hilary Swank. 

Drawing the Line(s)

The topic of stifling expressions facilitated three days of conferences at CSULB were scholars explored the occurrences of censorship within America.

The event was entitled “Drawing the Line(s): Censorship and Cultural Practices,” and was orchestrated by the department of Comparative World Literature and Classics. The event gathered academic scholars and practitioners in order to discuss censorship. Material covered pertained to movies, the first amendment and many other topics. Admission was free.

“This conference will show the students that what the faculty members do on a scholarly level begins at their level,” said Nhora Serrano, a conference organizer from the department of Comparative Literature and Classics.

At the conference, the subject of censorship and children was a repeating motif. Samantha Rosso, a CSULB student wrote a paper entitled: “Keeping it PG: Making Myths More Appropriate.” Rosso talked about the editing of classic Greek and Roman myths in order to make them suitable for children.

“It’s a tragedy to a child’s appropriate journey,” Rosso said about censorship and the alterations made to the moral lessons of Hercules, Aphrodite, and Zeus.

Jason Schulman, a graduate student from Emory University wrote a paper entitled: “The Red Flag Case Revisited: Young Communists and the First Amendment,” where he addressed issues of censorship in the context of protecting American children.

“Censorship is all about power dynamics, who makes the rules, who has the power, because the line is artificial,” Schulman said. When Schulman read his paper, he talked of an American summer camp teacher, Yetta Stromberg, whose prosecution derived from the raising of a communist flag at a youth camp in California.

Schulman notes that the Supreme Court determined Stromberg had her first amendment rights violated when the state tried to fulfill its motive to censor children from communist influences.

The connection between American history and censorship was abundant at the conference. This year was the 47^th consecutive Comparative Literature Conference on campus, making it the longest running event at CSULB. The event took place in the Anatol Building, March 1^st through the 3^rd, with a collection of nearly 80 speakers. 

Para Mi, Pour Vous, Per Noi

Three professors at CSULB’s College and Department of Romance, German, Russian, Languages and Literature received a grant for a three-year project enabling the faculty and four southern California institutions to work together to foster multilingual students.

The purpose of the program will be to explore the philosophy, methods and application of intercomprehension and pluralingualism in order to teach French and Italian to Spanish speakers. The grant will enable professors with the tools to create curriculum to teach a language at an accelerated pace, connecting the similarities between Spanish and another romance language.

On Friday the directors of the grant, CSULB’S Clorinda Donato, Marie Martin and Markus Muller met with surrounding high school and community college professionals to discuss the program. The language courses specific to this program have already been implemented at CSULB.

Gerry Riposa, the dean of the Liberal Arts Department made an appearance at Friday’s meeting and said that borders are meant for the government, not for people.

CSULB received a $999,900 grant to enable this adventure in learning. Donato said that only 5 percent of proposed projects are accepted. 

“We’re on the brink of extinction- we need to scream really loud to save languages,” Donato said to her colleagues on Friday.

The plan is for the program to become a national model for schools around the country. The four original institutions involved were Long Beach City College, Rio Hondo College, San Pedro High School and Wilson High School.

Millikan High School, San Gabriel High School and El Camino City College professors also attended Friday's meeting with the intent of joining the project.

“People are here early, this is great, they must be excited.” Claire Martin said on Friday. 

background

The point of this blog is to seek out professional and academic affairs in order to speak to those who may be interested in what's happening on campus.