Accessing Excellence at CSUN

It is an exciting time to be in California. Our economy is robust; we are situated on the Pacific Rim, which provides a rich array of jobs and trading opportunities, and our public colleges and universities are among the best in the world.

We at the Cal State University system are proud to be part of a higher education institution so respected for excellence. The CSU educates two-thirds of California’s public school teachers and produces 50% more business graduates, computer scientists and engineers than all other California universities and colleges combined. If we are to remain the preeminent institution we are today, we must constantly strive for excellence. That is why access to the wealth of information available through technology and why training our students to function in the emerging technology-based economy must be among our highest priorities.

In keeping with that commitment, several years ago CSU began extensive planning to determine how its 22 campuses could better use technology to move into the 21st century. The Integrated Technology Strategy (ITS) was developed to guide CSU’s technology investment priorities. In the beginning, students, faculty, campus presidents and technology staff outlined the technology projects they considered most important to their educational future. Unfortunately there are not sufficient resources to provide the technology infrastructure upon which all of the campuses’ technology projects and goals depend. The California Education Technology Initiative (CETI)--an innovative and creative partnership between the university and four technology companies--is the CSU’s approach to providing this needed infrastructure foundation.

The CSU system has had to face the fact that the state simply does not have the resources to meet the system’s urgent needs. These include technology and repairing and retrofitting older buildings--something Cal State Northridge knows a great deal about--as well as keeping student fees as low as possible, providing faculty salary increases and building new facilities to meet a burgeoning student population.

It is clear that through a joint venture with some of the most highly regarded companies in the country, we will not only help prepare graduates to compete in a worldwide and diverse economy but will free up valuable resources needed elsewhere.

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The CETI agreement is not finalized and won’t be until the CSU, its lawyers, technology experts, faculty and student representatives and leadership believe the agreement is good for all CSU constituencies. Because of the importance and magnitude of the initiative, the process has been lengthy, deliberative, dynamic and inclusive. We understand that with anything new and innovative there will be supporters and detractors. The Board of Trustees has delayed action to provide additional time for faculty and the public to understand the proposal and have questions answered. We are confident those questions can be answered in a way that will encourage support of this partnership, which will provide more than $300 million in telecommunications capabilities to our universities.

One of the primary concerns expressed by faculty involves academic freedom. CSU will not allow anything to alter, dilute, change or in any way modify the university’s fundamental commitment to academic freedom. Curriculum content will continue to be controlled by faculty; CETI simply provides the pipeline through which some information will be delivered. The partner companies will in no way be allowed to interfere with the contents of that pipeline.

Contrary to printed speculation, the products and services provided to campuses will not be limited to those produced by the partners. In fact, under the proposed agreement, all products and services requested by campuses, even those not in the inventory of a partner company, must be provided at the lowest possible cost. As a result, it is clear there will be a wide range of providers, far greater than just the four partners.

The role of the CSU in our society is too important to allow ourselves to be frightened away from such a beneficial partnership simply because “it’s not the way we’ve always done things.” Great institutions grow and prosper by anticipating and preparing for the future. Institutions that fail to accept new ideas and solutions are guaranteed to become mediocre. CSU is a great institution. We want to continue to compete with other top universities for the best faculty and prepare our graduates for the most fulfilling and rewarding careers.

This partnership has been studied, debated, discussed, assessed and evaluated for the past two years. It is a vital part of CSU’s future. We ask those who are opposed to CETI for whatever reason to take a fresh look at the partnership as it continues to be debated publicly during the next several months. We ask your help to ensure that the CSU remains accessible, affordable and excellent into the 21st century.