August 29, 2002

14th California Conference looks
at state's higher education master plan

University leaders, political insiders and others will meet for a two-day look at the future of California's groundbreaking Master Plan for Higher Education on Thursday and Friday, Sept. 26 and 27 at the Sacramento Convention Center.

The conference is sponsored by the Center for California Studies and the Institute for Higher Education Leadership and Policy, which are both at California State University, Sacramento.

This year's theme is "Envisioning a State of Learning: Moving California's Master Plan for Higher Education into the 21st Century." The keynote speaker will be Milton Chen, executive director of The George Lucas Educational Foundation.

Panel sessions will be on such topics as diversity, vocational education, accountability, preparing faculty, global perspectives on higher education, and faculty governance. The final session will be on the progress of the Legislature's Joint Committee to Develop a Master Plan for Preschool through University.

Among about 50 panelists will be Patrick Callan, president of the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education; Dennis Jones, president of the National Center for Higher Education Management Systems; State senators Deirdre Alpert and Jack Scott; Marlene Garcia of the Senate Office of Research; Jonathan Brown of the Association of Independent California Colleges and Universities; and Dan Walters of the Sacramento Bee. The large contingent from the CSU system will include Donald R. Gerth, president of CSUS; Ruben Armiñana, president of Sonoma State University; and David Spence and Jacquelyn Kegley of the CSU Chancellor's Office.

Early registration (postmarked by Sept. 13) is $90 and general registration is $115. Student registration for panels is free, and $30 for panels and meals.

More information is available by contacting the Center for California Studies at (916) 278-6906 or visiting www.csus.edu/calst. Additional media assistance is available by contacting CSUS public affairs at (916) 278-6156.

Conference Schedule

Thursday, Sept. 26

4 - 5:30 p.m. Panel sessions
• Master Planning in a Decentralized World
• Admissions: Access for Whom, to What and How
• From "Vocational Education" to "Workforce Preparation"

5:30 - 9 p.m. Reception, dinner and opening plenary
• Envisioning the Master Plan for Higher Education in the 21st Century

Friday, Sept. 27

9 - 10:30 a.m. Panel sessions
• Governance Strategies: How Fixed Should the Boundaries Be?
• University as Literature
• California Higher Education and Diverse Cultural Identities: New Dynamics for Traditional Roles

10:45 - 12:15 p.m. Panel sessions
• Accountability: Who, What and Why
• Faculty and Preparedness: Keys to the New Master Plan
• From the Outside Looking in: A Global Perspective on California's Master Plan for Education

12:30 - 1:45 p.m. Lunch and Keynote Address
• Milton Chen, executive director of The George Lucas Educational Foundation

2 - 3:30 p.m. Panel sessions
• Governance: Promises and Realities of Shared Governance
• Leadership in Higher Education
• Of Quads and Prefabs: Campus Architecture and its Meanings

3:45 - 5:30 p.m. Closing Plenary
• Reports from the Cutting Edge: The Work of the Legislature's Joint Committee to Develop a Master Plan - Preschool Through University

5:30 - 6:30 p.m. Reception

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