Cal State University Faculty Trustee Bernadette Cheyne discussed the importance of trustees understanding students’ concerns during a meeting with students and faculty members on Monday at the University Library.
Cheyne spoke briefly before opening the floor to questions for most of the 90-minute meeting.
More than 50 students and faculty members were present.
“Having a faculty trustee is important to keep a faculty and student voice out there,” Cheyne said. “I see that as an important part of my role.”
History major Alberto Mata asked Cheyne about her feelings regarding the planned hunger strike by CSU students in protest of rising tuition costs.
“As a child of the ’60s, I understand extreme measures,” Cheyne said. “No one feels good about what’s going on. I’m aware that during extreme situations, when people feel powerless, they will take extreme measures … I would just hope that whatever those extreme ways are, they do not cause harm.”
Cheyne added that her role as Faculty Trustee also requires thinking in broader terms.
“I wouldn’t be doing my job if I voted the way the faculty wanted me to vote every time,” Cheyne said. “I have to vote the way I see is the best for the California State University System.”
When another student asked about the possibility of closing one of the smaller CSU campuses to save funds, Cheyne responded that a plan to do so “is not openly on the table.” She also said that the overall sentiment of the Board to consider such a measure was an “absolute, vehement, ‘no.'”
Cheyne answered a question about the possibility of departments or programs being eliminated by saying that it was something that had “been mentioned” during board meetings. She said that consolidating programs was another possibility, although no particular programs had been named nor was any formal resolution proposed.
Many in the room applauded when professor Dan O’Connor, liberal studies department chair, asked why the non-academic members of the board didn’t visit campuses.
“Some of them do,” Cheyne said, before adding that it was not necessarily feasible for all BOT members to be there because of prior commitments and fiscal restraints.
Cheyne was appointed to the position of faculty trustee by Gov. Jerry Brown in July 2011.
Prior to her appointment, Cheyne served as a professor at Humboldt State University.
The BOT is a 25-member governing body that oversees the 23 campuses.