CSULB’s
first faculty trustee
steps up
By
Carmen Viliesid
Online Forty-Niner
Contributing Writer
In July Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger appointed Cal State Long Beach film and
electronics department chair and professor of communication studies Craig Smith
as the new California State University faculty trustee. Smith is the first
CSULB professor to be appointed to this position.
Professor Smith said he is honored the governor selected him, and as CSU faculty
trustee he will do his best to “be a channel of communication between
the faculty and the state.”
To do this he plans to go on “fact-finding missions,” where he
will listen to the concerns of students and faculty members at various CSU
campuses. He then will take these concerns back to the Board of Trustees.
Smith said he had to adjust to a “steep learning curve,” because
he had barely been appointed on July 1 when he attended his first board meeting
July 19. Though he says he is “still getting used to it,” his 11
years of experience on the local senate and 3 years on the state-wide senate
should make his adjustment to his new position quite smooth.
Some common concerns the trustees consider are schematic plans for new buildings
on CSU campuses, personnel matters and presidential evaluations, and discussion
of alcohol abuse on campus and how to handle such problems.
As faculty trustee, Smith plans to fulfill his role by helping to improve and
protect the CSU system and all it stands for. For instance, a main concern
will be “maintaining access for students to a quality education.”
Smith boasts a bevy of credentials, qualifications and achievements. He is
the director of First Amendment studies at CSULB, and therefore brings to the
board an “expertise regarding the First Amendment that should protect
academic freedom.”
During his 16 years at CSULB he has chaired the comparative world literature
and classics department and received Distinguished Teaching, Distinguished
Scholar, and Outstanding Professor Awards.
He also served as full-time speech writer to President Gerald Ford and Chrysler
CEO Lee Iococca, and was a consultant to President George H.W. Bush and Gov.
Pete Wilson.
Like most students who attend the CSU, Smith is a product of the public education
system, having graduated from Sweetwater High School in National City. He is
proud of his new position as CSU Faculty Trustee and feels confident CSULB
is the “signal flagship CSU.” |
