T he CSULB campus community has quickly embraced its new president and leader, Dr. F. King Alexander. Members of the faculty, staff and student body who have interacted with Dr. Alexander since his arrival at The Beach freely acknowledge that his intelligence, leadership style, concern for humanity and commitment to excellence all serve to make him a superb fit for his new university home. President Alexander is working tirelessly to establish meaningful relationships with all segments of the campus community and is taking his message regarding “student success” and building the university’s endowment to internal and external audiences.

Already, Dr. Alexander has begun placing his imprint on the university. His selection of Vic Cegles, a top notch and highly respected athletics administrator and fundraiser, to lead the Athletics program, demonstrates his intent to positively contribute to the university’s legacy as established under the stewardship of retired president Robert C. Maxson. Dr. Alexander also selected a very bright and extremely competent administrator to serve as the university’s top fundraiser. Andrea Taylor, recently appointed vice president of university relations and development, will carefully craft the plan for a major fundraising campaign with a focus on building the university’s endowment. Both Taylor and Cegles have pledged to work together to develop a comprehensive fundraising effort and to ensure that Athletics stands as an equal with all other university fundraising priorities.

Other changes in store for the campus when students arrive for classes next fall include some that are subtle in nature and others that are much easier to discern. Students and faculty living in the residence halls will enjoy two new coffeehouses that will be open late nights as places for students to gather, hang out, study or enjoy occasional programs featuring poetry readings or music. In addition, there’s sure to be excited votes of approval for the new Starbucks slated to open in the University Dining Plaza, with a second Starbucks to open at the Beach Hut in the East Library late in the fall. The university’s web site is also slated to be overhauled to provide a cleaner, more user-friendly format. Of course, the university will continue to enjoy its lofty rankings by both US News and World Report (ranked among the top three public universities in the West), and The Princeton Review (the No. 3 best value public college in the nation). The campus will also point with pride to its Athletics Department, which won its first-ever Big West Commissioner’s Cup as the top program in the Big West Conference.

President Alexander is working tirelessly to establish meaningful relationships with all segments of the campus community.

While staffing changes and improvements to campus facilities may initially be the focus of attention for the campus community in the fall, other changes are in the offing as well. Of particular note will be a renewed focus on the recruitment and retention of students from local community colleges. Although the university is prepared to accommodate the largest enrollment in its history when more than 35,000 students arrive for fall 2007, campus master planners anticipate even larger future enrollments. The university’s carefully crafted plan for incremental growth in the future continues to place a heavy emphasis on freshman admissions and calls for redoubling efforts to bolster the transfer student population. Restructured community college outreach initiatives have been designed to increase the number of transfer students enrolling at The Beach in fall 2008. To accomplish this objective, University Outreach and School Relations staff will direct additional resources toward transfer student advising through an increased presence at partner community colleges. A key strategy of our community college outreach efforts will focus on providing information on alternative majors linked to career choices and graduate programs, along with an emphasis on traditional majors.

As has been the case in the past, it appears as though The Beach will once again be an exciting place for students and others who are seeking a quality university experience in an urban setting.