CSU’s first faculty senate meeting of the fall 2024 semester was hosted Sept. 11 at 3:00 p.m. in the Student Center Glasscock Ballroom. On a notable date, the meeting was ushered in by a moment of silence to recognize those lost in the September 11 terrorist attacks 23 years ago.

Carol Olszewski, a CSU professor and alumna, introduced herself to the faculty as their new senate president. She asked for the faculty’s patience and promised her willingness to work with the campus community to “move forward together.”

President Dr. Laura Bloomberg’s focus in her report to the senate was the rollout of CSU’s updated website, shared governance in the faculty senate and strategic planning (Vision 2030).

Bloomberg said the updated website will roll out in three phases, the first phase beginning Sept. 12. The website features a cleaner look and is now ADA-compliant as well as adaptable to all devices.

The president emphasized to the faculty that the primary stakeholder is prospective students, not staff, and that she doesn’t expect everything to go perfectly.

Dr. Bloomberg says she is “100% sure there will be glitches,” acknowledging that those who crafted the new site are human and not machines. “We’re not going to get it all right, we’re going to do our best.”

Shared governance, gift

President Bloomberg outlined the introduction of five new senior leadership groups: academics and student success, external relations, finance budget and HR, technology transformation, and capital planning and strategy. Collectively they will focus on an integrated way of thinking about shared governance.

With the current ill-fated CSU 2.0 strategic plan championed by her predecessor set to expire in 2025, Bloomberg introduced its successor, “Vision 2030,” which she said features “a vision where everyone thrives.”

Bloomberg paused to gather her emotions before revealing that this year she will announce one of the largest gifts the university has ever received. She has not commented further at this time, but said it will change the lives of students.

Other business

Following the report of Provost Nigamanth Sridhar, Ph.D., to the faculty senate, he took questions. A faculty member asked why the projected investment income for FY25 was budgeted to be $1.15 million, when FY24 generated $20.4 million in investment income.

Provost Dr. Nigamanth Sridhar explained that in 2024, CSU got lucky with its investments, as it had in 2023, but that the university cannot count on the same luck in 2025. He said investment performance is "not a line that we should be anchoring on” and that CSU needs to focus on its operating surplus or deficit, which compares total revenue to total expenses. For FY2025, CSU is projecting that expenses will be $10 million more than revenue, compared to a $14 million gap in 2024.

A key cause of CSU's financial problems has been plummeting enrollments in recent years. Provost Sridhar called enrollments the "primary driver" behind the administration's entire development strategy.

He addressed the current situation, saying that the 2024 projection for student numbers had been exceeded. Rather than the loss of another 500 students, which the university had budgeted for, numbers were up slightly as of Sept. 10, Census Day for CSU when it must report its numbers to the state, with 14,213 students on campus.

The next faculty senate meeting will be held on Wednesday, Oct. 9 in the Student Center Glasscock Ballroom at 3:00 p.m. The meeting will include time dedicated to a presentation of an updated strategic plan as well as additional feedback. Regarding finances, the full year year-end audit will be released in November along with the budget book and first-quarter forecast.