Charles Reed, the California State University’s new chancellor, assumed his new post on March 1. He was chancellor of the State University System of Florida from 1985 to 1997. Prior to that, Reed was chief of staff to then-governor and now-U.S. Senator Bob Graham of Florida. Reed was also an administrator in the Florida Department of Education for eight years. When the CSU announced October 6 of last year that Reed would be its new chancellor, the San Francisco Chronicle wrote, “California State University came out the big winner in landing as its new chancellor Charles B. Reed, the experienced and politically savvy head of Florida’s public university system.” CSU, Chico was honored by a visit from Chancellor Reed during Founders Week in April 1998. The following questions and answers were compiled by Joe Wills, director of Public Affairs for Chico State.

What’s your first order of business?
My first priority as new chancellor is to listen a lot to what is going on at the campuses. I need to listen to the presidents, faculty, trustees, and others about the CSU and what they think our priorities ought to be.

Probably the most important area that I’ll spend time on is making sure the CSU gets an adequate budget so that we can provide access to another 15,000 students in the next year who want to come to the CSU.

I also want to do something about improving the salaries of our faculty and staff. The trustees have been very supportive of this. There is some optimism about California’s economy getting better, which would make funds available. I have made a pledge to close the faculty-staff salary gap in the next four years and to make a major step this year.

You mentioned the word “access.” Is it important to provide access for all students?
That’s why I came to California State University, because this institution offers a great opportunity for working class Californians to go to school here. You can go here and get a degree and have a great chance in life. Many of our students are the first in their families to get a baccalaureate degree. I was the first in my family. I’m one of seven children. I know what it did for me. It changed my life. I know what the lack of college did for some of those in my family who didn’t go to collegethey’re working in factories, they’re doing shift work, and it’s tough. I think we have to do everything we possibly can to recruit all kinds of students to come here.

What are your other priorities?
Over half of our facilities are thirty years old or older. We need funding to maintain existing buildings, catch up on deferred maintenance, and build new facilities for the 75,000 to 100,000 new students coming in the next decade.

In addition, we need 300,000 new teachers for the state of California. I want the CSU to produce 15,000 new teachers every year, and I want to reach that goal by the year 2001. I do not think you can improve the public schools of California without improving teachers. The only way I think you can improve teaching is by working through the CSU.

Ninety-five percent of the students who come to Chico come from California public schools. If we can improve the schools, we will be improving ourselves.

Is there something that can specifically address student preparation, or lack thereof, for college?
We have to do something about science and mathematics in California and in America. One of the things that doesn’t happen anymore is young students in 6th, 7th, and 8th grades don’t take science and math anymore. Their parents need to urge them to take algebra, geometry, physical science, and biology. We know this: America ranks last in the world in science and math scores. The reason is students don’t take those courses. They take “almost math,” “someday it will be math,” “maybe it will be math,” but not rigorous math. It’s sad. If they don’t take it in junior high, they get into high school and say, “I want to be a scientist or an engineer,” and guess what? It’s too late. I would push our school districts and parents to sign kids up in the middle schools for math and science.

Like many schools, Chico State has had an ongoing effort trying to deal with alcohol abuse.
In the thirteen years that I was chancellor in Florida, I said this over and over: The single biggest problem on our campuses is alcohol abuse, by both men and women. Education, education, education is really important to deal with the problem, as are alternatives to alcohol, such as dry rushes for fraternities. We formed a campus group that was teaching responsibility. We supported alternatives to alcohol at different parties. It’s a huge problem, and it takes a lot of people to focus on a solution. It has to be a community effort.

What’s your first impression of Chico?
You have the ambiance of a traditional campus. San Luis Obispo and Humboldt have that traditional college and university feel as well. Most of your students are full-time, so your focus is different from most CSU campuses. Most of the other campuses’ students are adults, have jobs, have children, are married, and that puts a whole different view in place. Your
student government is more active, your focus is on receiving your baccalaureate degree and getting a job, while their focus is on keeping a job while working on a degree, in order to get a better job. I like that, but this is just a real college campusit’s great.

Do you have a general goal in mind as chancellor?
I want the business community of California to look to California State University as the supplier of their twenty-first century workforce and be known for that, be consulted with, and be respected. I think we can build additional quality in California State University, focused on uplifting the respect, visibility, and quality of our students, our degrees, our faculty, our research.

Chancellor Reed talks to students at CSU, Chico in April 1998