BREAKING: @calstate's leader Tim White says that the 23-campus system will be largely virtual in Fall 2020. Some exceptions will be made for hands-on courses, but he cites analysis of forthcoming waves of covid-19 infection that makes in-person learning too dangerous.
White: We should train to make virtual learning the standard in fall. To students: this is not time to pause or decline opportunity to attend a CSU. “This is the moment to persist” to earn a degree that offers economic benefits for life.
A CSU Trustee asks: What has caused the virtual move.
Why not do tracing? Isn't virtual learning inferior?
White: It is confluence of issues around cover-19: health and safety of students plus impending resource constraints. He takes “umbrage” that virtual learning is inferior...
Why not do tracing? Isn't virtual learning inferior?
White: It is confluence of issues around cover-19: health and safety of students plus impending resource constraints. He takes “umbrage” that virtual learning is inferior...
to in-class learning. Some exceptions: if class calls for assembly of rocket — that’s a “lost” or “postponed” moment if we cannot do that. Faculty training in virtual learning is ongoing.
White: we looked at cost of weekly basis of testing. $25 million a week — even if we can get all the tests we need. So at current moment, we are looking at ways to test and trace enough students. He says Gov. Newsom that there are less than 3,000 tracers in Ca.
This was response to trustee member asking why CSU can't do contact tracing and testing. White closed his comments with "It's enormously expensive" to do that now.
More context about Fall plans, from White: There will be on-campus activities. “They have to be conducted within those very rigorous standards” of health and safety. He cites research labs, like ones funded with outside money. They’ll need PPE. State of CA needs nurses 1/3
When there’s sufficient accommodations of health in place, we want to bring in our students to work on mannequins. But rather than 15 students per class, we’ll need to do five. Planning is in case all hell breaks loose. 2/3
Idea: if we get closer to fall and campuses see reduced risk then there will be more opportunity to do in-class instruction.
White says CSU is not doing "fully online" but "virtual." I'm not sure if he means that unlike being fully online, CSU is leaving door open for some in-person instruction.
CSU Trustee Faigin: He disagrees that online education is demonstrably worse. "I think that’s a wrong assumption,” he said. “I don’t want students across the system thinking they’re getting short-changed.” He adds: "This is not a substandard education" that student's are getting.
This obviously opens up discussion about what is the value-add of a campus-based university. Are students getting a degree that shows accumulation of knowledge or are there social aspects that make attending in-person worth the higher cost?
Tweeted this separate from thread but also adding it here for consistency:
A trustee asked Chancellor White about student activities, White: To do this, they’ll need to meet rigorous health standards. At minimum that’s masks and distancing and whatever else comes about. Also a variable is a campus’s square footage and how many students it can contain.
NEW: @calstate budget leaders predict that the $199 million the CSU was offered in the governor's January Budget and may see reduction in state support. We'll for sure know this Thursday when the governor's May budget update is released.
Interesting. Budget folks at CSU just said that some CSU campuses are using portions of their federal support to supplement direct aid to students, including students who were deemed ineligible for the federal aid by the U.S. Dept. of Ed. Related lawsuit:
CSU financial markets position is OK, budget folks are saying. After market turmoil early during the covid-19 pandemic, markets have returned to normal. Finance staff are moving holdings around to improve available cash on hand to deal with current emergency. "Greater liquidity."
CSU CFO: Some system operations will have trouble meeting debt service. Those that have new projects, like housing, may be need financial support. Restructuring debt, used f reserves, looking at bond revenue program, issuing of additional debt. There are pros and cons to this.
BIG: CSU says that based on preliminary, anecdotal data from few campuses that kept May 1 deadline: Enrollment commitments from students there seem to look relatively good. But intent to enroll is different that actually enrolling. Excludes the 50% of campuses w. June 1 deadline.
MORE CONTEXT: CSU finance official says that The $337million in higher costs and revenue losses in spring term is a pre-offset number. Official said system is not at point to be able to say how much of that $337m can be reconciled with CARES Act funds for institutions.
.@CALtGovernor, a trustee, says that students will question value of going into debt if they're not physically in the classroom. The message it would send to raise tuition during this time will be insensitive. Let’s make next year's budget is balanced without tuition increase.
Trustee Kimbell: Student alternatives to higher-ed, jobs, won’t be accessible. If other colleges and universities are going into virtual learning, it’s equal playing field, she seems to be saying. Raising tuition is “last resort,” she said.
Trustee Jack McGrory: Increasing tuition would be a “disaster.” It has to be “off the table,” he said. “This is not not the time to even consider” it. He says maybe it’s the time to incentivize out-of-state students to come to CSU or to find a tuition model for that.
Peter Taylor, CSU trustee and former CFO of the University of California during the last recession. “I regret" role played in increasing tuition at the UC during the last recession. “In hindsight, it was the wrong move.” Other trustees echoed opposition to CSU tuition increase.
There's a five-minute break. I need to drink all the water and eat all the food in that window.
Next up: how non-resident CSU students can appeal to become resident students. Rules to be voted on in July would make it somewhat easier for students to appeal their classification as a non-resident student, which makes tuition much higher.
We're talking about relatively few students: At 19 campuses surveyed, 769 students requested reclassification to be resident. 54% of those were granted this. Under proposed rules, presumably a greater share of those students would win this appeal.
But with fewer students enrolled paying out-of-state tuition, that's a drop in revenue for the CSU. An analysis shows that of the 46% denied reclassification, if 10% of those did get in-state tuition, that's revenue loss of $342K fees.
One trustee says asking the question of what this rule change would cost CSU is the wrong question. It's a "fairer and more accurate" rule to update the current rules on establishing residency. Another trustee says Board will likely have three other hearings about this.
Next: A hearing, but not vote, on creating an ethnic studies/social justice undergraduate requirement. The CSU wants this approved but it is vehemently opposed by supporters of AB 1460, a law that would make an ethnic studies a graduation requirement. So what's the impasse? 1/x
Supporters of legislation say it ensures a course in ethnic studies, a discipline that is as much a subject as is English or Chemistry. Backers of the legislation say that CSU's proposal waters down AB 1460 by creating a vaguer requirement for social justice. 2/x
While social justice studies examine issues of gender, sexuality and identity, ethnic studies focuses on the historic contributions of four racial/ethnic groups. It also tackles racism head on. AB 1460 backers say the CSU proposal doesn't address U.S. racism. 3/x
The debate is around several issues, including whether the Legislature can or should dictate curriculum taught by an independent university system, whether university leaders accept ethnic studies as a subject, whether an ethnic studies requirement affects transfer students 4/x
and whether it's fair of the CSU to propose this ethnic studies/social justice requirement during a pandemic even though a task force on this question filed a report back in 2016. Ethnic studies is a discipline that's at least 50 years old. 5/x
"Social justice is not ethnic studies," said one CSU trustee. Another trustee said the CSU proposal is an ethnic studies requirement "in name only." These trustees echoed others I've spoken to who say ethnic studies lets students feel seen and welcomed. The 4 racial/ethnic 6/x
groups that ethnic studies examines are Native Americans, African Americans, Asian Americans,
Latina/o Americans -- their contributions to the U.S., their experiences here, and power structures.
Latina/o Americans -- their contributions to the U.S., their experiences here, and power structures.
One senior official (Loren Blanchard) says Ab 1460's timeline of having these courses in place by 2021 is "an unrealistic timeframe.”
Another official said Ab 1460 would be more expensive than the CSU proposal because it would require adding specific courses and review transfer pathways for community college students taking associate degrees for transfer.
Trustee Eisen (paraphrase) When we impose a requirement, it has to be important. It’s as important as critical thinking, or a background in physical science, that’s what we’re saying. But the details must be left to the experts, the faculty. What I like about this proposal 1/x
2/x as opposed to AB 1460, is that it does allow that if one campus decides a course on the holocaust would satisfy this requirement, then that counts as satisfying the requirement. But under AB 1460, that course wouldn’t satisfy the requirement, is her understanding.
Trustee Abrego is worried that the CSU ethnic studies/social justice proposal doesn't align with what the ethnic studies task force proposed in 2016. He called that recommendation "straightforward." He is troubled that ethnic studies council of scholars say that they were 1/x
2/2 left out of conversations about the CSU proposal. In his view, curriculum is left to faculty, and that includes all faculty. The board needs to let that process fulfill itself so that a way forward about what to do with curriculum changes is voted on.
Another trustee, Jack McGrory, said he's troubled that some of his trustee colleagues have issues with the CSU proposal. Finally, another trustee gets confirmation that Ab 1460 has higher price tag because it'd require CSU to hire more ethnic studies faculty.
Forgive me, I ran out of steam. Chancellor White announces that CSUMB received its largest ever financial gift, the terms of which were not revealed. The donor was inspired by an employee who was undocumented. csumb.edu/news/csumb-ann…
White also thanks several outgoing board members, including board leader Adam Day. Also, a student body president is outgoing, a longtime senior staffer, Larry Mandel www2.calstate.edu/csu-system/new… and student trustee Juan Garcia: www2.calstate.edu/csu-system/boa…
The meeting has ended. I'll review my notes to make a few more updates that I was too tired to tweet during the final hour. A bit more to come shortly.
I had to delete a tweet to make a correction so I'm stitching together tread here. Corrected tweet at end of thread.
