Board of Trustees Meeting September 16-17

The California State University Board of Trustees will meet Tuesday and Wednesday of next week, September 16-17, 2008.

On Tuesday the Trustees will begin with closed sessions to discuss litigation and collective bargaining. Tuesday's open sessions are estimated to begin at 10:45 a.m. with the open portion of the Committee on Collective Bargaining. The remaining committee meetings take up the rest of the day and most of Wednesday morning. The Committee of the Whole is estimated to begin at 10:40 a.m. Wednesday, and the plenary session of the Board of Trustees is estimated to follow at 11:15 a.m.

Other than the first meeting of the day (10:00 a.m. Tuesday, 8:00 a.m. Wednesday), start times are always estimates based on guesses about how long each session will take.

Agenda Highlights

• Closed session for litigation (Vivas v. CSU, et al., and Landvalue 77, et al. v. CSU, et al.) and Executive Personnel Matters.
• The Information Security audit is a review of the systems in place to protect the confidentiality, integrity, and access/availability of information including systems to limit collection of information, control access to data and assure that individuals with access to data do not utilize the data for unauthorized purposes, encrypt data in storage and transmission, and implement physical and logical security measures for all sources. The table below shows the status of the Information Security audit at each of the selected campuses, according to Attchment A of the published agenda. (Committee on Audit Agenda [PDF])

  Campus	Information Security Audit Status
  Chico	Report Writing in Progress
  Fullerton	Audit Complete
  Northridge	Field Work in Progress
  Pomona	Audit Incomplete (awaiting formal exit conference and/or campus response)
  San Diego	Report Writing in Progress
  San Jose	Field Work in Progress
  Sonoma	Audit Incomplete (awaiting formal exit conference and/or campus response)
  Stanislaus	Report Writing in Progress

  Editor's note: At this writing, the Fullerton audit does not appear to be published in the audit reports section of the Chancellor's Office web site, though it is listed as complete. If we're reading the audit process description right, this implies that the chancellor still must accept the report, and the final report must be individually bound and forwarded to the campus president/vice chancellor-in-charge before it becomes public.
• 2008-09 Support Budget Overview: In short, while the governor's May revise put back $97.6 million of the previously proposed $312.9 million CSU funding gap, that proposal still leaves the CSU approximately $215 million below workload needs. The various proposals and adjustments since then have focused on other areas of the state budget, not the CSU. The presentation included in the agenda concludes the level of funding proposed for CSU in the May Revision (and confirmed by the "August Revision" and the legislative budget conference committee plan) remains at risk. (Commitee on Finance Agenda [PDF])
• 2009-2010 Support Budget: The agenda item notes that even the most optimistic scenario points to continuing fiscal difficulty. See agenda item 2 for the numbers. Short version: a minimum of $333.4 million from the state's General Fund to fully fund the current provisions of the Compact and an additional $155.9 million for funding priorities 'above the Compact.' (Commitee on Finance Agenda [PDF])
• CSU Investments Report: SWIFT is the CSU Systemwide Investment Fund-Trust. As of June 30, 2008, the CSU had $1.688 billion invested in SWIFT. The SWIFT provided a return of 4.54% during the 12 months ended June 30, 2008. The CSU also has $41.7 million invested in Surplus Money Investment Fund (SMIF), a vehicle used by the State Treasurer to invest state funds in a short-term pool and approximately $34,000 in Local Agency Investment Fund (LAIF), a vehicle used by the State Treasurer to invest local agency funds. (Item 4, Commitee on Finance Agenda [PDF])
• Systemwide Revenue Bonds and interim financing in an aggregate amount not-to-exceed $283,685,000. Projects listed for this are:
  • Fullerton Student Housing and Food Service, Phases III and IV ($172,905,000)
  • Humboldt Student Housing Replacement and Addition, Phase I ($49,425,000)
  • Sacramento Recreation Wellness Center, Phase II ($58,165,000)
  • California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo
    Cal Poly Corporation - The Technology Park Pilot Building Project (apparently $283,685,000, though an outside firm is still preparing the resolutions to be presented for the Trustees to approve)
  (Commitee on Finance Agenda [PDF])
• 2008-2009 Capital Outlay Program Additions:
  • California State University, Fullerton Parking Structure 4, Phase 1 ($35,783,000)
  • California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo Technology Park Pilot Building ($6,300,000)
  • California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo Simpson Strong-Tie Building ($3,000,000)
  (Committee on Campus Planning, Buildings, and Grounds agenda [PDF])
• Land aquisitions for Channel Islands, San Diego, and San Bernardino campuses. The CSU San Bernardino acquisition includes an easement to provide access to the development site, planned to include 980 residential units arranged in sixteen neighborhoods.
• November ballot initiatives summary: The CSU does not appear to plan to take positions on any of the 12 initiatives, but it's worth a read if you're starting to wonder what's on the ballot besides Proposition 8. It begins on page 14 of the PDF agenda document. (Item 2, Committee on Governmental Relations Agenda [PDF])

About Trustees Meetings

For the most part, the discussion happens in the Committee meetings, and then the full Board meets in plenary session and approves whatever is before it. The Board seldom says no to internal (Trustee- or CSU-generated) agenda items.

The open sessions are open to anyone at all, and there is no sign-in or identification requirement. You can just sit in the audience and watch if you're interested.

The (as yet unapproved) minutes of the previous meetings are in the agendas for the current meetings.

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.

Links

• CSU Board of Trustees Agendas and Notices
• Schedule of Meetings for September 16-17, 2008 Board of Trustees Meeting [PDF]
• Overall Agenda for September 16-17, 2008 Board of Trustees Meeting [PDF]
• Resolutions of the CSU Board of Trustees
• About the Audit Process (CSU Office of the University Auditor)
• Audit Reports (CSU Office of the University Auditor)
• About addressing the Board of Trustees
• Long Beach travel information (includes transportation options and parking information)
• Trustees email address list (compiled by Ronnie Grant)