This article is from Cal-Tax Digest, published
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September 1999

The California State University (CSU) is key to California's future. Without a well-funded, dynamic, productive and accessible CSU educating top-quality teachers, business people, scientists, engineers, health professionals, computer specialists, and communicators, California will not have the workforce it needs for the "New Economy" of the 21st Century.

But, for the CSU to have the currency to seek full funding from California taxpayers through the Legislature and the governor, it must continue to increase accountability, improve productivity - especially in student retention and the time it takes to earn a degree - and assure access and quality of instruction.

Guaranteeing access to a high-quality education is, and will continue to be, the CSU's highest priority. This is especially important in light of the fact that between 1993 and 2005 there will be a 24.3 percent increase in enrollment demand for California's public colleges and universities - or more than 455,000 students. This tidal wave of growth is already straining the CSU.

In addition, the profile of today's CSU students is vastly different from students of the 1960s and 1970s and of the students currently attending the University of California. Eighty-three percent of CSU students commute to school and 70 percent are employed. Many are in their late 20s and early 30s, are parents and find it difficult to attend college through traditional means and at traditional times.

The CSU is searching for new and innovative ways to meet the needs of these non-traditional students and to accommodate the impact of what is being called "Tidal Wave II" for higher education. The Baby Boomers created the first tidal wave of enrollment; now their children are going to college.

One way to serve this expanding and older student population is to better use existing facilities. Offering more courses at night and on weekends and expanding year-round operations are three of the most practical and cost-effective ways to increase accessibility while still maintaining the highest quality.

Four of our campuses - Hayward, Los Angeles, Pomona, and San Luis Obispo - already offer full state-supported summer quarters. However, in the summer, these campuses are only able to enroll between 20 and 40 percent of the students they enroll during their regular terms. Our remaining campuses offer self-supporting summer sessions administered by our continuing education offices. These programs generate only about 10 percent of total CSU enrollments. Clearly we can accommodate many more students during the summer and we are committed to expanding year-round operations as well as to increasing the number of night and weekend courses.

If these efforts to better utilize existing facilities are successful, the state will benefit in several ways. First, students will graduate sooner. This means less cost to taxpayers and to students. By graduating students sooner, there will be more room for the surge of Tidal Wave II enrollments and more students can attend the CSU without having to build more buildings.

Bill Hauck is chair of the CSU Board of Trustees and president of the California Business Roundtable.

 But, for expanded year-round operations to work, we need to solve at least two problems. First, we must find ways to encourage more traditional students to attend classes offered during non-peak times, particularly the summer. The proposal by CSU Chancellor Charles Reed to reduce summer fees by as much as 25 percent is a positive step. Secondly, the CSU needs the support of the governor and the Legislature to help fund year-round operations and to make more student financial aid available during the summer.

Another way to improve access is through wider use of technology for "distance education." This includes the use of two-way video to allow students at remote sites to participate in classes being conducted at CSU campuses, and the use of Internet technologies to allow students to complete courses on-line at their convenience and at their pace. Both approaches increase student access to higher education, but both need to be used judiciously for two reasons.

First, an important element of an undergraduate education is face-to-face contact between students and faculty through which students learn to work cooperatively to present and defend their ideas. CSU faculty understand these requirements and will use technology sensibly. Secondly, technology solutions usually require heavy investment in equipment and infrastructure and are often more expensive than traditional approaches. But in those cases where quality can be maintained or improved, and costs can be kept reasonable, distance education will contribute to our ability to meet the needs of the state.

One more way to reduce time needed to gain a degree is to improve working relations between the CSU, community colleges and the University of California. Cooperation should ensure that course credits can be transferred. More effective planning and sharing physical resources would help contain the rising costs of higher education.

The CSU fully understands its responsibility to its students, its faculty, the state's education community which relies on the CSU to educate more than 60 percent of its teachers, the taxpayers who support it, and the business community which knows that 10 percent of California's workforce consists of CSU alumni. The CSU is publicly committed to greater accountability, increased access, improved productivity, a high-quality education and expanded public/private partnerships.

The CSU is publicly committed to greater accountability, increased access, improved productivity, a high-quality education and expanded public/private partnerships.