More students are seeking financial aid and taking action against budget cuts, faculty and administration said Thursday at the Academic Senate meeting.
Interim Provost Donald Para spoke on behalf of President F. King Alexander, who was unable to attend the meeting. Para told the Senate that Alexander has been in a 2-hour meeting in Washington D.C. with the Department of Education.
The meeting covered a number of initiatives, including federal funding earmarks and programs that will specifically target scholarships and other funds for students in need.
Para also said the number of students receiving financial aid has gone up even though there are 2,200 fewer students on campus this year.
“The overall federal aid total with our students is $27 million more this year than in the past. It’s the largest single year increase in student aid in history, by dollar or by percentage,” Para said.
Para also told the Senate that after installing security cameras on the parking lots, automobile thefts have gone down 50 percent and automobile break-ins have gone down 70 percent.
“Cal State Long Beach used to be No. 1 in CSU in auto thefts,” Para said.
Safety cameras also helped to catch a man who sexually assaulted a student last week.
“The person was picked up on a monitor; he was politely standing across Seventh Street waiting for a bus when police came by and picked him up,” Para said.
Teri Yamada, California Faculty Association president of the CSULB chapter, also spoke about past events, mentioning that the mock funeral Sept. 23 was a success and got the attention of various media.
“This was probably the most successful event we have had so far,” Yamada said.
She added that in a 10-day period, CSULB students have written more than 8,000 letters to be sent to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. Two students will be chosen to personally take the letters to Sacramento on Nov. 2, a campus closure day. The students will be accompanied by Nancy Matthews, a student mentor and CSULB lecturer.
Yamada also talked about upcoming events. On Oct. 15, there will be a CSULB Coalition budget meeting at the University Student Union to give critical perspectives on the economy.
Senate members proposed amendments to the coordination of multi-section and sequential courses, such as adding or removing commas from certain sections, but the Senate did not reach a decision. The discussion will continue in their next meeting.