From the President

$1.8 Million Loan Forgiven

You will recall that in order to avoid faculty and staff lay-offs and also avoid cuts in other essential areas, I negotiated two loans from the Office of the Chancellor, $1.8 million in 1996-97 and $600,000 in 1997-98, for a total of $2.4 million. Last year, I reported that I had received a letter from then-Executive Vice Chancellor Molly Broad informing me that she was forgiving the $600,000 loan because we had established a good enrollment management plan and because our enrollment was showing signs of recovery. She further stated that we still owed $1.8 million but that the Chancellor would make a determination on how much of the remaining loan we might need to repay depending on the success of the implementation of our enrollment management strategy.

I am very pleased to report that Senior Vice Chancellor Richard West has sent me an official letter indicating that the $1.8 million loan is fully forgiven. Mr. West writes, "This loan is being forgiven because your campus has made good strides in implementing an enrollment management plan." And we have indeed made "good strides." Our enrollment stands now at around 13,450 FTE, or about 600 FTE over our budgeted target.

As I see it, we have cause for celebration. There is a definite relief in knowing officially that we will not have to repay a very significant amount. This is also an indication that the Chancellor's Office has trust in our ability to stay the course. But there is further cause for celebration. Because we are already at 13,400 FTE, I have received confirmation that for 1999-2000 we will be funded at 13,600 FTE. The immediate consequence of this growth will translate into the hiring of many new faculty and staff. Let me take this opportunity to thank each and every one of you who helped in the development and implementation of our enrollment management plan. I particularly want to thank all of you who did more than your share to ensure that we continued to offer our students a great education and an overall positive experience despite repeated budget cuts and the added tasks and responsibilities that many had to assume because of these cuts.

President Manuel A. Esteban