From the President's Desk

Buildings, Obligations, and Values

In case you haven’t noticed, there’s quite a bit of activity on the campus these days. Most of it, of course, focuses on the presence of the largest fall enrollment in the University’s history, just over 17,000 students. For many good reasons—a high yield on our offers of admission, a greater number of applicants declaring Chico State as their higher education institution of first choice, better retention rates, and stronger continuing student numbers—we are bursting at the seams. And that accounts for the other principal category of activity: construction.

We are in the midst of an incredibly active construction period with nearly 20 major capital projects amounting to almost a half-billion dollars underway or scheduled for completion over the next seven years. Most of this activity is above ground and very visible. The Student Services Center ($45 million, 120,000 sq. ft.), the Wildcat Activity Center ($60 million, 110,000 sq. ft.), a new housing and dining complex ($55 million, 112,000 sq. ft.), and the Northern California Natural History Museum ($4.1 million, 9,000 sq. ft. first phase) are the leading projects in this era of expansion.

These projects stretch the capabilities of our people in facilities planning, financing, and management. They test the patience of all of us who are inconvenienced by construction sites and noise. They challenge us to be true to the principles of our Master Plan, most notably reinforcing the educational experience of our students through the buildings and spaces of the campus, protecting our distinctive environment as a residential campus, strengthening the relationship between the University and our host city, and affirming the harmony between the natural and built environments of the campus.

This is a tough balancing act. It is further complicated in the responsibilities that we have to many interested and affected communities: the campus community of our students, faculty, and staff; the City of Chico community and our bordering neighborhoods; the North State; the CSU; and the state of California. The physical shape and development of our campus must acknowledge these communities and their expectations, including our obligations to provide access to those seeking a CSU education, to preserve the quality of the living and learning experience for our students, and to avoid the ill consequences of too much or too rapid growth on our city.

Just as we listen to the many voices within these communities, we know that our obligations to multiple groups essentially guarantee that we will not please everyone, on every issue, all of the time. For example, in recent weeks, I have been urged to reduce enrollments—and increase enrollments; to take students out of the neighborhoods—but not build residences on campus for them; to provide more parking—and to discourage driving cars to campus; to bring back football—and to limit events in the football stadium; to do more to curb noise and alcohol abuse in our neighborhoods—and not to infringe on our students’ “right to party.”

Inevitably, given such polar advice, someone will be disappointed in the University’s actions. So, what is really on the line is the integrity of our plans, the clarity of our values, and the sensitivity of our actions. Even then, we know that some folks who do not like some of our plans or who reject some of our responses will label our actions insincere or insensitive.

But we must always seek to stay on the high ground, basing our interactions with critics and supporters alike on civility, respect, and reason. For, after all, these are the fundamental right rules of conduct for the academy, and they apply just as surely to debates among faculty colleagues in the Academic Senate as to communications with campus neighbors on the implementation of our Master Plan.

A good master plan reveals and prepares. It signals who we are and to what we aspire. It underscores the connections between what we have achieved and what we will yet accomplish. Thus, simultaneously retrospective and future-focused, it provides continuity and accommodates change. Yes, a master plan is filled with pretty photographs and lovely renderings, but these are mainly placeholders and concepts. What really matters is contextual understanding and principled action. We are prepared to demonstrate both.

—Paul J. Zingg, President