Planning for the Fall Semester Continues
Dear Beach Community:
Teams of faculty, staff and students continue to work on overcoming many of the challenges caused by the COVID 19 pandemic. For example, while our Emergency Operations Committee continues monitoring regional trends, experts across campus are working through complex scenarios that will allow us to safely repopulate campus once the stay-at-home orders are lifted. Resources are being offered to faculty who desire to increase their comfort level with remote teaching and learning, while professional development is available to staff members whose work will remain remote. These are only a few examples of how we continually and innovatively pursue our teaching and learning, which are at the center of who we are and all we do.
You might be interested to know that professionals in Student Housing also have been diligently planning for the fall, while developing a safe strategy to reunite students with their belongings, which were left behind when most students left campus in March. There are only 40 students in this category, but I’m sure they will be glad to again have some of their cherished items.
True to our value that public good is our responsibility, we are launching a partnership with the Long Beach City Public Health Department to increase access to testing and tracing for members of the Beach Community and for all of Long Beach. Stay tuned for more information as we explore possible win/win scenarios.
Our University Police Department reports that the campus has remained secure over the past several weeks. Please report any suspicious campus activity you might see by calling 562-985-4101.
We continue to analyze with system and campus colleagues how we will mitigate the $398M reduction in state funds to the CSU. While we have estimated that this may result in just under a 6% campus cut, the details are still tentative given unknowns associated with any possible federal stimulus money that might come to the state. As always, student success and employee well-being are our priorities.
Investing in the CSU is an investment in the future of California. While this is obvious, we will continue our passionate advocacy. Our campus is part of the vast CSU engine of scientific, cultural, artistic, and economic stability and growth for our State and we are proud to participate in the #CSUforCA effort.
We have accomplished so much in the past few challenging months and are well-positioned to meet the upcoming challenges and opportunities of a fast-changing, fluid and unpredictable environment. Stay safe and take care of yourself.
Sincerely,
Jane Close Conoley, Ph.D.
President
California State University, Long Beach
