Wilson’s New Lease on Future Promises to Energize CSUN

In what she described as a sort of “personal relief,” Cal State Northridge President Blenda Wilson last week failed to win a bid to head Wayne State University in Detroit. Although disappointed at not winning the coveted post, Wilson vowed to stay put at CSUN--a pledge that can mean good things for the campus, its students and the surrounding community. With a renewed focus on her duties at CSUN, Wilson has the potential to energize a campus that seems finally on its way toward a full recovery from the devastating 1994 Northridge earthquake.

Particularly, Wilson should focus on:

* Smoothing rough relations with neighbors. As the only public four-year university in the San Fernando Valley, CSUN ought to enjoy considerable public support. For the most part, it does. But CSUN administrators ruffled neighbors and local business leaders with plans to lease its North Campus to a private shopping center developer. Opponents fear the project’s noise and traffic as well as the increased competition it might create for local merchants. But some sort of public-private partnership makes sense because CSUN--like cash-strapped public institutions everywhere--needs to find creative ways to pay for itself. The Times encourages Wilson and CSUN administrators to explore ways to make whatever development occurs on North Campus to relate more closely to the academic pursuits of students. For instance, the university might work with local high-tech or entertainment companies to develop labs or studios where students could put their classroom lessons to work. Current plans call for such development in addition to the retail stores, but need more aggressive backing if they are to become reality.

* Developing stable outside funding for sports programs. Although four men’s sports axed to meet gender-equity requirements and a tight budget have been restored by additional state money, Wilson should work with coaches, players and boosters to ensure that the programs can survive on their own once the one-time infusion of cash runs out. Wilson has correctly argued that athletics should not bleed money from academics. But sports are an important part of the university experience and deserve the attention of those at the top. That includes aggressive oversight of budgets and expert help on trimming costs. In addition, Wilson should lend her support to efforts to find and secure reliable, long-term funding for sports.

* Keeping close tabs on public money. Wilson’s appointment earlier this month of longtime accounting professor Robert Kiddoo as the university’s first controller is a big step toward fixing the kind of financial blunders that left students waiting for their tax refunds and incorrectly identified some employees as owing the campus money. Those goofs called into question the ability of CSUN administrators to use public money responsibly. To her credit, Wilson has worked aggressively to weed out mistakes, and The Times encourages her to continue to find ways of making the university more fiscally responsible.

* Overseeing refurbishment of the campus. Severely damaged by the Northridge earthquake, the campus finally is starting to return to normal. Many renovations are complete and others are well underway. At the same time, the university is embarking on an ambitious, but realistic, plan to beautify the sometimes stark campus and create an atmosphere that makes students at the commuter school want to linger. Wilson’s guidance is critical to keeping the plan alive. Some might dismiss the plan as frivolous, but the school’s utilitarian appearance may actually hurt its image in attracting the best possible students. It’s no accident that the campus is derisively referred to as Cal State Nowhere.

* Ensuring the relevance of CSUN’s curriculum. The skills demanded by today’s job market are changing more rapidly than at any time in history. As the Valley’s sole public university, CSUN has a responsibility to make sure its graduates are as prepared as possible for the high-skill jobs created by new technologies. Working with local business leaders--most notably from the high-tech companies of the northwest Valley and the studios of the southeast Valley--Wilson can help the university develop curricula that match the needs of employers. CSUN should never abandon the ideal of education for its own sake, but the school has a unique opportunity to leverage its location in a region where entertainment and technology intersect.

To be sure, Wilson would have faced exciting intellectual and managerial challenges at the helm of Wayne State. But she has equally exciting work waiting at CSUN.