February 1, 2024 - Crucial Conversations Ahead this Spring

Dear Chico State Community,
 
Welcome to the spring 2024 semester. It’s always an exciting time when a new semester begins. Spring semesters are great because we will culminate the year with commencement, where we anticipate celebrating with over 3,000 graduates who have chosen to share their journey with us. I am grateful for the way our community works together in support of our students and each other. We have many things to be thankful for and at the top of my list are the wonderful communities of Chico State, Chico, and the North State.  
 
Today, I’d like to preview a few campuswide conversations I look forward to having this semester. First, I will give an in-person “State of the University” update on March 7 and talk about the status of our budget, enrollment, budget planning scenarios for 2024-25, and planning. The presentation will be 2:30-3:30 p.m. in Harlen Adams Theatre, PAC 144. As we know, the budget projections for the State, California State University, and Chico State indicate significant challenges ahead and we will have difficult decisions to make. The University Budget Committee will begin meeting this week to distill budget projections and make recommendations of planning scenarios for the upcoming budget cycle. I look forward to presenting this information, all of which we will use to develop budget plans for 2024-25. 
 
To best make these difficult decisions, we need to have extensive University-wide conversations about our future. With strong alignment around what makes us great, what makes us unique, and what makes us strong, we will make well-thought-out decisions and overcome these challenges. We will build this alignment through refreshing our Strategic Plan and working to build “Community Agreements,” which will identify and reflect our core values and provide a framework to enhance our commitment to an inclusive work and learning environment.
 
Our current Strategic Plan (PDF) sunsets at the end of this academic year. I’ve asked Angela Trethewey, Dean of the College of Communication and Education, and Dr. Cirilo Cortez, Associate Vice President for Student Engagement and Retention Programs, to co-chair a broad-based steering committee to refresh our plan. In particular, I will ask the steering committee to lead campus conversations to answer the following questions drawn from The Advantage by Pat Lencioni(opens in new window): Why do we exist (our mission)? How do we behave (what are our values)? What do we do that defines us (our evergreen priorities)? How will we succeed (what are our goals for the next three years)?  
 
After developing consensus around these questions, we will create an implementation plan identifying the actions we must take in the next year (what is most important, right now?) and who is responsible for accomplishing these activities (who must do what?). I look forward to these conversations and will talk more about this process on March 7.  
 
The Chico State community is tight-knit, caring, and supportive. However, we have heard from our 2023 Campus Climate Survey(opens in new window) and know from experience that we have work to do. A couple of quotes from the 2023 Campus Climate Survey highlight the need to develop a shared understanding of how we should treat each other: 
 

• “Culture change: address disrespectful and unprofessional behavior at all levels…”  
• “...Before coming to Chico State, I had never worked for an organization where colleagues treat each other so poorly even at the ‘highest’ levels…, and to have that behavior accepted makes this an intimidating place to work, to be my authentic self, or feel like I can or even want to belong here.” 

 
Our Title IX Implementation Team’s(opens in new window) Other Conduct of Concern Subcommittee has provided a good start for Community Agreements with their draft “statement of expectations”, and I have asked the subcommittee to broaden its membership and lead the development of Chico State Community Agreements to guide our expectations of how we behave and interact with each other. My experience is that these conversations and the resulting agreements can drive very positive momentum for campus culture.  
 
As an institution committed to creating and maintaining an environment that attracts and retains world-class faculty and staff, it is imperative to continue to learn about what it’s like to live, learn, and work at Chico State. This spring we will use Modern Think’s Great Colleges to Work For(opens in new window) survey, which will go out to the campus in March, to gather perspectives of faculty and staff, set benchmarks, and give data for comparable institutions. We anticipate this will not be a singular event and we will administer this survey every other year. Data and themes gathered from this survey will also help inform our Community Agreements and strategic planning process. 
 
I ask you all to take part in these crucial conversations and thank you deeply for your commitment and work in supporting our students, each other, and our region. If you are interested in being on either the strategic planning or Community Agreements committees, please reach out to my office (presidentoffice@csuchico.edu(opens in new window)).  
 
Thank you and let’s have a great semester! 
Steve Perez