Board of Trustees Meeting March 11-12

The California State University Board of Trustees will meet Tuesday and Wednesday, March 11-12, 2008, at the Chancellor's Office in Long Beach. Except for Tuesday morning's closed sessions, these are open to the public and take place in the Dumke Auditorium. Anyone can address the Board of Trustees, or write to them. To write, use the mailing address on the second page of the current meeting schedule or the email address list compiled by Ronnie Grant.

The meeting schedule:

Time	Committee
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
10:00 a.m.	Board of Trustees – Closed Session Personnel Matters: Presidential Evaluation (Government Code Section 1126[a]) Litigation Matters: Johnson-Klein v. CSU, et al. and Vivas v. CSU, et al. (Government Code Section 1126(e)(1))
11:30 a.m.	Committee on Collective Bargaining—Closed Session (Government Code Section 3596[d])
12:15 p.m.	Luncheon
1:00 p.m.	Committee on Collective Bargaining—Open Session
1:15 p.m.	Committee of the Whole
2:30 p.m.	Committee on Audit
3:00 p.m.	Committee on Organization and Rules
3:05 p.m.	Committee on Educational Policy
4:00 p.m.	Committee on Campus Planning, Buildings and Grounds
4:30 p.m.	Committee on Institutional Advancement
5:00 p.m.	Committee on University and Faculty Personnel
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
8:00 a.m.	Committee on University and Faculty Personnel
8:10 a.m.	Committee on Governmental Relations
8:30 a.m.	Committee on Finance
9:45 a.m.	Board of Trustees
Note: This schedule is approximate. Any meeting may start earlier or later than indicated, depending on the time needed for the previous meeting.

Tidbits from the agendas:

• The Committee on Audit will hear a status report which includes a look at Information Security. The accompanying chart indicates field work for this is in progress at Cal Poly Pomona.
• The Committee on University and Faculty Personnel will review and presumably approve a "Policy and Procedure for the Appointment of Vice Chancellors and the General Counsel." The proposed policy actually decreases Board involvement in one type of personnel action (terminating a vice chancellor). The policy continues to minimize any meaningful oversight role for the Trustees and states "It is understood that the chancellor will have the support of the board in building his or her own management executive team."
• There is a very readable summary of the budget situation to date, beginning on page 6 of the Committee on Finance agenda [PDF].
• A comparison between the trustees’ capital outlay request, the governor’s budget proposal, and the legislative analyst’s office (LAO) recommendations begins on page 6 of the Committee on Campus Planning, Buildings and Grounds agenda [PDF].
• The Board will be asked to issue bonds of up to $28,515,000, for auxiliary refinancings. The refinancings are for faculty housing at CSU Northridge (up to $3,200,000) and student housing at San Diego State (up to $25,315,000).
• The Board will be asked to approve $15,486,000 for a University High School at CSU Fresno and $1,280,000 for a sign board at CSU Sacramento. The sign board would be 85 feet tall, overlooking highway 50, and would be used for commercial advertising, university event information and CalTrans public service messages. The agenda states the project would be funded by Clear Channel Outdoor.
• The Committee on Collective Bargaining has "Initial Bargaining Proposals for Bargaining With State Employees' Trades Council-United (Unit 6)" on their agenda.
• The CSU has a slew of of discrimination and retaliation cases filed against it; see the CSU General Counsel's report beginning on page 4 of the Committee of the Whole agenda [PDF].
• Also of interest from the General Counsel's report:

  "CFA v. PERB, et al.
  Court of Appeal
  CFA filed an unfair labor practice charge asserting, among other things, that CSU unilaterally changed its parking practices to bar union employees from using new parking facilities that are limited to students who are paying the higher parking fees. An administrative law judge concluded that the use of parking facilities is within the scope of bargaining and that CSU had committed an unfair labor practice. CSU appealed. The full PERB Board reversed the decision and held that parking location is outside the scope of bargaining, and thus there was no unfair labor practice. CFA has filed this petition challenging this outcome in the court of appeal. Briefing is complete, and oral argument is scheduled for February 20, 2008. "

  "CSU v. PERB
  Court of Appeal
  CSU filed a petition for writ of mandate against the Public Employment Relations Board seeking an order reversing PERB's decision that would bar CSU from bargaining for limitations on an arbitrator's authority in faculty status arbitrations. The Court of Appeal ordered PERB to vacate its decision and deny CFA's claim. CFA's subsequent petition for review to the California Supreme Court was denied. "

  "Travis v. CSU, et al.
  Los Angeles County Superior Court
  John Travis, President of the CFA, alleges that the current Executive Transition Program is an unlawful gift of public funds and an unlawful dual government retirement benefit. Travis seeks to undo the Executive Transition Program in its entirety, and refund the payments made to former executives Peter Smith and David Spence. The case will proceed to trial on February 22, 2008, on the parties' written briefs."

Agendas include (not-yet-approved) minutes from the previous meetings. These make for interesting and informative reading, but should be taken with a grain of salt when it comes to identifying people who address the Board and describing their remarks.

Links:

• About addressing the Board of Trustees
• Board of Trustees agendas and schedule
• Long Beach travel information (includes transportation options and parking information)
• Trustees email address list (compiled by Ronnie Grant)