California State University
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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| Motto | Vox Veritas Vita (Latin, "Voice Truth Life"-Speak the truth as a way of life.) |
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| Established | 1857 |
| Type | Public University System |
| Endowment | US$678 Million |
| Chancellor | Charles B. Reed |
| Faculty | 44,000 |
| Students | 414,000 |
| Location | Long Beach, California |
| Campus | 23 campuses |
| Colors | Red & White |
| Affiliations | California State University |
| Website | CalState |
The California State University (CSU) is one of three public higher education systems in the state of California, the other two being the University of California system and the California Community College System. It is incorporated as The Trustees of the California State University.
The CSU system is composed of 23 campuses and has 414,000 students supported by 44,000 faculty members and staff.[1] It is the largest system of postsecondary education in the United States that does not include community colleges.[2]
The CSU prepares about 60 percent of the teachers in the state, 40 percent of the engineering graduates, and more graduates in business, agriculture, communications, health, education and public administration than all other California universities and colleges combined. Altogether, about half the Bachelor's degrees and a third of the Master's degrees awarded annually in California are from the CSU.
Since 1961 more than 2 million alumni have received a bachelor's, master's or doctoral degrees from the university system. It offers more than 1,800 degree programs in some 240-subject areas.
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[edit] History
Today's California State University system is the direct descendant of the California State Normal School (now San José State University), a normal school established by the California Legislature on May 2, 1862. The California State Normal School was itself derived from the City of San Francisco's Minns Evening Normal School, founded in 1857, a normal school that educated San Francisco teachers in association with that city's high school system; the system now considers its founding date to be that of the Minns School. A second California State Normal School campus was created in Los Angeles in 1882.
In 1887, the California legislature dropped the word "California" from the name of the San Jose and Los Angeles schools, renaming them "State Normal Schools." Later Chico (1887), San Diego (1897), and other schools became part of the State Normal School system. In 1919, the State Normal School at Los Angeles became the Southern Branch of the University of California (now the University of California, Los Angeles). In 1921, the State Normal Schools became the State Teachers Colleges. By this time most of the campuses became identified by their city names plus the word "state" (e.g, "San Jose State," "San Diego State," "San Francisco State").
In 1935, the State Teachers Colleges became the California State Colleges and were administered by the California State Department of Education in Sacramento. The Donahoe Higher Education Act of 1960 gave the system greater autonomy from the State of California.
The postwar period brought a great expansion in the number of colleges in the system. Campuses in Los Angeles, Sacramento, and Long Beach were added between 1947 and 1949. Then seven more were authorized to be built between 1957 and 1960. Six more campuses joined the system after the establishment of the Donohoe Higher Education Act in 1960 bringing the total number to 23.
In 1972 the system became The California State University and Colleges, and all of the campuses were renamed with the words "California State University" in their names. At some of the older campuses, alumni successfully lobbied the California Legislature to revert the schools back to their pre-1972 names: San Jose State, San Diego State, San Francisco State, etc. In 1982, the CSU system dropped the word "colleges" from its name.
Today the campuses of the CSU include comprehensive and polytechnic universities and the only Maritime Academy in the western United States that receives aid from the federal Maritime Administration.
[edit] Governance
Responsibility for the California State University is vested in the Board of Trustees, whose members are appointed by the Governor of the State of California. The Trustees appoint the Chancellor, who is the chief executive officer of the system, and the Presidents, who are the chief executive officers of their respective campuses.
The Academic Senate of the California State University, made up of elected representatives of the faculty from each campus, recommends academic policy to the Board of Trustees through the Chancellor.
[edit] Chancellors of the CSU
- Buell Gallagher (1961-1962)
- Glenn S. Dumke (1962-1982)
- W. Ann Reynolds (1982-1990)
- Ellis E. McCune [Acting] (1990-1991)
- Barry Munitz (1991-1998)
- Charles B. Reed (1998-current)
[edit] Governance Controversies
Approximately 1000 faculty and students rallied at a CSU trustees meeting in Long Beach on Wednesday, Nov. 16th 2006 to protest a controversial policy that gives top CSU administrators a year's pay after they leave their jobs but before their actual retirements. Under reforms made at this meeting, new executive hires can still receive the so-called transition year, but only if they return to another Cal State post, such as professor. They would be banned from working for another employer during that year and their pay and duties would have to be disclosed.[3]
[edit] Endowment
The California State University's permanent, collective endowment has grown to $678 million U.S. dollars as of the close of the 2004-2005 academic year. In addition, each of the 23 campuses of the CSU raise their own funds through donations and other external funding, and each campus controls its own separate endowment funds not counted in the above collective endowment amount. Link to CSU Endowment & Fundraising webpage
[edit] Campuses
The CSU is composed of the following 23 campuses listed here by order of the year founded:
[edit] Off Campus Branches
A handful of universities have off campus branches that make education accessible in a vast state. Unlike the typical university extension courses, they are degree-granting and students have the same status as other California State University students. The newest campus, the California State University, Channel Islands, was formerly an off campus branch of CSUN. Riverside and Contra Costa counties, which have 3 million residents between them, have lobbied for their off campus branches to be freestanding California State University campuses. Total enrollment for all branches in Fall 2005 is 9,163 students, the equivalent of 2.2% of systemwide enrollment. The following are schools and their respective off campus branches:
- California State University, Bakersfield
- Antelope Valley (in Lancaster, California)
- California State University, Fullerton
- Irvine
- California State University, East Bay
- Concord
- California State University, San Bernardino
- Palm Desert
- San Diego State University
- San Francisco State University
- Cañada College (in Redwood, California)
- Downtown Center (in San Francisco, California)
- California State University, Stanislaus
- Stockton
[edit] Laboratories and Observatories
Research facilities owned and operated by units of the CSU:
- Desert Studies Center (managed by California State University, Fullerton)
- Research consortium and field site
- official website
- Moss Landing Marine Laboratories (managed by San José State University)
- Oceanographic laboratory
- official website
- Mount Laguna Observatory (part of the Astronomy Department of San Diego State University)
- Astronomical observatory
- official website
[edit] Former Campuses
Former units and campuses of the CSU:
- Los Angeles State Normal School (aka State Normal School at Los Angeles) (founded 1882)
- By state law, converted to UCLA (University of California, Los Angeles) in 1919
- Santa Barbara State College (founded 1909)
- By state law, converted to UCSB (University of California, Santa Barbara) in 1944
[edit] Differences between the CSU and UC systems
Both university systems are California publicly funded higher education institutions.
According to the California Master Plan for Higher Education (1960), both university systems may confer Bachelors or Master's degrees as well as professional certifications, however only the University of California has the authority to issue Ph.D degree (Doctor of Philosophy) and professional degrees in the fields of law, medicine, veterinary, and dentistry. As a result of recent legislation (SB 724), the California State University may now offer the Ed.D degree (also known as the Doctor of Education or "education doctorate degree") to its graduate students as well as certain types of professional doctorate degrees (for instance, audiology, etc.). Additionally, the California State University (CSU) offers Ph.D degree (Doctor of Philosophy) as a "joint degree" in combination with other institutions of higher education, including "joint degrees" with the University of California (UC) and accredited private universities. This is why, for instance, San Diego State can qualify as a "Research University with high research activity" (Carnegie Foundation link) by offering 16 doctoral degrees.
The CSU attempts to accept applicants from the top one-third of California high school graduates. In contrast, the UC attempts to accept the top 12.5%. In an effort to maintain a 60/40 ratio of upper division students to lower division students and to encourage students to attend a California community college first, both university systems give priority to California community college transfer students. The state, which funds all three institutions, encourages the practice because community colleges are cheaper to maintain.[citation needed]
Historically the requirements for admission to the CSU have been less stringent than the UC system. However, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo has always had higher admissions standards than the rest of the CSU system. An impacted campus or major is one which has more CSU-qualified students than capacity permits. As of 2006, Long Beach, San Diego, and San Luis Obispo are impacted for both freshmen and transfers, while Fullerton, Pomona, and Sonoma are impacted for freshmen. Thus, these campuses have higher admission standards than the CSU minimum. In addition, some programs at other campuses are similarly impacted. Despite this, CSU undergraduate admissions are quantitatively based and generally do not include items such as personal statements, SAT Subject Test scores, letters of recommendation, or portfolios. In addition, there is geographic preference given to those residing within the commute area of the school. [1] The California Maritime Academy uses a different admissions process from other CSU schools.
There are 23 CSU campuses and 10 UC campuses representing 414,000 and 191,000 students respectively. The cost of CSU tuition is approximately half that of UC. Thus, the CSU system has been referred to by California residents as "The People's University."
CSU and UC use the terms "president" and "chancellor" internally in exactly opposite ways: At CSU, the campuses are headed by "presidents" who report to a systemwide "chancellor"; but at UC, they are headed by "chancellors" who report to a systemwide "president". Both usages are found in similar systems in the other U.S. states.[citation needed]
[edit] Campus Naming Conventions
The UC system follows a consistent style in the naming of campuses, using the words University of California followed by a comma and the name of its declared home city. Most CSU campuses follow a similar pattern, though several are named only for their home city, such as San José State University. A few schools follow neither pattern, in particular the California Maritime Academy and California Polytechnic State University, the only campuses whose official names do not include their home cities. Some critics, including former California State University, Sacramento president Donald Gerth, have claimed that the weak CSU identity has contributed to the CSU's perceived lack of prestige when compared to UC.[5]
[edit] Research and Academics
[edit] AAU and AASCU
The University of California and most of its campuses are members of the Association of American Universities (AAU), while the California State University (CSU) and several of its campuses (including San Diego State and San Jose State) are members of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU).
[edit] CENIC
The CSU is a member of the Corporation for Education Network Initiatives in California (CENIC).
[edit] NASULGC
The CSU is a member of the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges.
[edit] Statewide University Programs
[edit] Agricultural Research Initiative
- A comprehensive applied agricultural and environmental research program joining the CSU's four colleges of agriculture (at San Luis Obispo, Pomona, Chico and Fresno) and the state's agriculture and natural resources industries and allied business communities.
[edit] Biotechnology
- Managed by the San Diego and Chico campuses, the California State University Program for Education and Research in Biotechnology (CSUPERB) provides vision, leadership, and support for biotechnology education and research throughout the CSU to promote biotechnology in California. CSUPERB was created in 1987 and designed to channel CSU system-wide resources and catalyze interdisciplinary, inter-campus, synergistic endeavors involving Biology and Chemistry departments as well as Engineering, Agriculture and Computer Science. The interdisciplinary nature of biotechnology includes areas such as bioengineering; agricultural biotechnology; human pharmaceutical and health applications; environmental and natural resource biotechnology; molecular ecology; marine biotechnology; and bioinformatics and computational biology as they are applied to molecular questions. CSUPERB also recognizes basic research in the molecular and cellular life sciences as contributing to biotechnology, and serves as the official liaison between the CSU system and industry, government, the Congressional Biotechnology Caucus, and the public arena in all biotechnological matters.
[edit] Nursing
- Statewide Nursing Program
- Headquartered and administered at the Dominguez Hills campus, the CSU Statewide Nursing Program offers registered nurses courses available throughout California that lead to Bachelors' and Masters' of Science degree in Nursing (awarded by the closest participating CSU campus). See also California Postsecondary Education Committee (CPEC) Reports on CSU Statewide Nursing Program for more information.
[edit] Pre-Doctoral Program
- Designed to increase the pool of potential faculty by supporting the doctoral aspirations of California State University students who have experienced economic and educational disadvantages.
- Provides financial and other assistance to individuals pursuing doctoral degrees. The program seeks to provide loans to doctoral students who are interested in applying and competing for California State University instructional faculty positions after completion of the doctoral degree.
[edit] Professional Science Master's Degree
The CSU intends to expand its post-graduate education focus to establish and encourage "Professional Science Master's Degree" programs. The programs will be established using the Sloan model (see link for further discussion).
[edit] See also
- California Community Colleges
- California Master Plan for Higher Education
- California State Employees Association
- California State University Emeritus and Retired Faculty Association
- Colleges and universities
- List of colleges and universities in California
- University of California
[edit] References
- ^ Student Enrollment at the CSU. The California State University (2006-02-13). Retrieved on 2006-07-30.
- ^ CSU Facts 2006. The California State University (2006-06-29). Retrieved on 2006-07-30.
- ^ Activists protest Cal State perks, LA Times, 16 November 2006. Accessed online 16 November 2006.
- ^ http://www.calstate.edu/PA/info/enroll.shtml
- ^ Gerth, Donald R., Haehn, James O. (1971). Invisible Giant: The California State Colleges. Jossey-Bass, San Francisco. ISBN 0875891101.
[edit] External links
- California State University
- History of CSU
- California Faculty Association
- California State University Emeritus and Retired Faculty Association
- California State Student Association
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