Celebrating the new school year, the campus community came together to hear Cal State Long Beach’s President Jane Close Conoley’s newest plans for the campus at the 2014 Annual Convocation on Friday.
The Carpenter Performing Arts Center was nearly filled to the 1,000 seat capacity. Conoley spoke to an audience of faculty, staff and students about new facility and environmental improvements on campus. She said that the convocation was a time to “remind people that we have a new beginning.”
“We put a lot of money into facilities,” Conoley said. “There’s been a lot of remodeling at the dorms too.”
This convocation was the first for the new president, and it is also the first time that CSULB has had a stable enough budget to grow.
CSULB Interim Provost David Dowell said that this year’s convocation distinguishes itself from the last three because, at the moment, the budget is better than it’s been in a long time.
“With that [improvement] comes a lot of choices because instead of cutting things, we can think about how we will grow,” Dowell said. “We now can think about what direction we want to take the campus rather than what we have to cut out to survive.”
Dowell was also proud to announce that growth is already starting to take place in the form of an additional 58 faculty member, who will be starting this academic year.
Although this may be a year of growth, Conoley said that the state budget “wasn’t what we asked for.”
“We don’t have enough full-time faculty, and we have too many part-time faculty,” Conoley said regarding the challenges facing the campus.
“I think rising-student debt is huge, so right now, we are trying to get a handle on more private money to offer more scholarships,” she said.
Despite these challenges, Conoley said she plans to continue improving many of the facilities and grounds on campus.
“We set a priority list of capitals in terms of buildings and grounds, mostly for students to get together and study,” Conoley said “We also plan to improve the library and the Union.”
Outside of the condition of the university, the event is also a time when the campus awards the President’s Scholarships, which celebrated its 20th anniversary at the convocation.
Dowell introduced Conoley and the incoming class from the President’s Scholars Program, which includes three valedictorians from Long Beach high schools. This year, 25 students have been awarded the four-year scholarship, which covers each student’s full tuition.
President Conoley received roaring applause at her first convocation address and was given a welcoming gift. The gift was a statue curetted by Christopher Miles, dean of the art department.
Conoley said that she is most proud of the federal government’s recognition of CSULB for being one of its highest ranked schools for excellent low-cost education.
“That’s an external validation that I like,” Conoley said.