Message from Chancellor Reed: Spreading the
word about the CSU system’s impact

Those of us who work in and around California State University campuses know that the CSU has a major impact on the citizens and communities of California. We received tangible proof of that fact last fall when the CSU released a comprehensive study of the impact of the university system. That study showed a dramatic and unparalleled impact on the economic, social, intellectual and cultural life of all of California.

During the past year, we have been working hard to share that information throughout our communities. For instance, we have begun hosting a series of informational forums with industry leaders in the fields to which the CSU supplies the majority of California’s workers. We held an agricultural industry forum at Fresno State in February, an entertainment industry event at Cal State L.A. in April, and a tourism/hospitality industry forum at Cal Poly Pomona in June. Future industry panels for fields such as engineering are in the works. We also have held briefing sessions with Latino and African-American community leaders, and we are planning additional briefings for those communities, as well as briefings for Vietnamese and Chinese communities, in both Southern and Northern California.

But our best advocates for the message about the CSU impact continue to be you, our employees. To that end, I want to encourage you to visit the CSU’s new impact web site, www.calstate.edu/impact. This site provides complete information from the impact report, organized by industry and by campus, as well as specific tools such as talking points and presentations that you can use to learn more about your campus and the CSU, and to share with others in your formal and informal discussions.

The more our message gets around the state, the better equipped we are to fulfill our mission as a university. For example, as our policymakers in Sacramento continue to hammer out the final details on the CSU’s budget, they need to hear about the CSU’s contributions. When they understand that an investment in higher education is an investment in California’s future—and when they truly understand the massive impact that the CSU has on California’s economy—we will be better positioned to carry out our important work for California’s students.

I want to thank you once again for helping to make the California State University such an outstanding institution of higher education. Your commitment to the CSU and its mission is what allows our university to make a difference for California and its students.

— Charles B. Reed