President's annual fall address is Aug. 23

President Gerth's fall address to the campus community will be at 10 a.m., Thursday, Aug. 23 in the Music Recital Hall. A gathering for coffee and conversation at 9:30 a.m. will precede the address.

President Gerth President's message from the Aug. 20 CSUS Bulletin

Welcome to the 2001-02 academic year - especially to all of the new faculty and staff who have come to us from throughout the country and beyond. We have nearly 70 new faculty and many new staff who are joining our University family in one of the largest groups we have had in many years. Those of you who are new to campus will find a dedicated staff and faculty willing and eager to assist you to feel at home here.

As I am sure you will notice in the first weeks of the semester, we are growing, and doing so rapidly. For those of you among the 150 faculty who spent a part of your summer here and the staff who supported them, I want to thank you for making our first official year-round operation a resounding success. With nearly 5,000 students participating over the summer, I fully expect we will reach a summer enrollment of 10,000 relatively soon. We need to prepare for that and many on campus are working hard toward that goal.

This build-up of our summer academic program is one part of our overall plan to continue to provide improved access to higher education for the people of the Capital Region. We are all dedicated to serving our community and our students. One of the issues that I will address in my remarks to the campus community Thursday is the concept of student retention as a corollary to student access. It is an issue that we will address directly in the coming year.

Over the summer I have thought much about the strength and nature of this University's full participation in the life of the Capital Region. Moving into the second half of our first century of service, I want us to reaffirm the centrality of this University to the social, cultural and economic fabric of the region.

Thousands of our students contribute to the life of this region by giving so much extra of themselves, as do the faculty who lead programs and conduct research related to the many communities of the Sacramento area. It is a massive contribution and helps to shape the regional economy and the quality of our lives. I anticipate that we will continue to add significantly to our public life commitment in this region.

I will raise these and other issues that face us as we commence another year together. Overall, I expect it to be another full year that I am looking forward to enormously. I hope you will join me Thursday.

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