Athletics,
accreditation focus of Fall convocation
By Michael Watanabe
On-line Forty-Niner
Highlighting
Cal State Long Beach’s athletic programs
and recent accreditation, university President
Robert Maxson kicked off the school year
Friday at the Fall 2002 Annual Convocation
held in the Carpenter Performing Arts Center.
Also spotlighted was the university’s push
for academic technology in a central role
in the school’s curriculum.
 Maxson
said he was most proud of the graduation
rates in the athletic program. After reminding
the crowd of about 700 that many athletes
decide to become pro in their junior year,
Maxson announced that 50 percent of athletes
had graduated last year, including those
who decided to turn pro. The percentage
is an increase from 19 percent several years
ago. Plus, he said, 31 percent of athletes
have a 3.0 GPA or above.
During his speech, Maxson also touched on
the recent accreditation of the university,
something he called a “life-or-death situation
for any university.” The Western Association
of Schools and Colleges, the regional accreditation
team consisting of 10 scholars from around
the country, had reported good reviews all
around, Maxson said.
“Many said they had never seen such a collegial
atmosphere at a campus anywhere,” Maxson
said. “They talked about the shared governments
here. They talked about the friendships.
They talked about the civility. … It was
highlighted throughout their report.
“Then they talked about something I’m especially
proud of,” he said. “The good job we’re
doing in the service of students. They talked
about student services on this campus and
they just gave us the best marks on that.”
Also during the convocation, Academic Senate
Chair Wayne Dick presented a one-year goal
to implement more technology into the university.
“That goal is not just to look at academic
technology but to really take Web-based
technology and to move it from the realm
of the exotic to the realm of the commonplace,”
Dick said.
The idea, pushed by the California State
University Academic Senate and the Chancellor’s
Office, will focus on the impact on faculty.
Such considerations include information,
curriculum, design and the spiritual impact,
among other things.
Technology-based curriculum began with the
University of Extension Services, which
developed distance learning classes. Such
classes are conducted solely online. Then,
a few faculty pioneers began utilizing multimedia
opportunities. Soon, the College of Engineering
created Blackboard, which allowed teachers
to post various handouts and homework assignments
on the Web. And now, that system has evolved
to be called Beach Board.
Two other issues the president discussed
were enrollment issues and the telecommunications
project. In the past few years, enrollment
at CSULB has skyrocketed. More than 43,000
students applied to CSULB last year and
about 9,000 enrolled, totaling approximately
34,000 students campuswide, Maxson said.
But the growth is good, not bad, he said.
“We just have been growing too fast. Now
it’s not a bad problem to have,” he said.
“In fact it’s a good problem to have when
you have more qualified students who want
to come to the campus than you can account.
Students don’t flock to bad universities.
“We must manage our enrollment so we can
provide the best education possible to the
men and women who do go to school here,”
Maxson said.
To close, Maxson, Dick and Provost Gary
Reichard introduced the Edge of Excellence
program, a five-year campaign to raise $10
million to support professor research and
scholarships.
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