President Ellen Junn stepped on the Stanislaus State campus last July with a vision to build a culture of shared governance that would move the University forward, into the next decade.
On Monday morning, Feb. 13, at the University’s first Spring Convocation held at Snider Recital Hall, President Junn shed light on the giant steps being taken in what will be a continuing process to meet those goals.
In addition to elaborating on the 12 initiatives she has overseen in her seven months at Stan State, President Junn used the presentation to formally introduce the University’s six newest Cabinet members, allowing each to describe their roles in the overall shared governance vision.
Each of the six spoke briefly, not only on their specific roles, but on how their departments may be going through reorganization and how all of the Cabinet members have been successful in integrating the initiatives with the University’s overall mission in mind.
Here are the 12 initiatives, all launched or renewed since Junn took office on July 1, 2016:
- Presidential Transition Team, which convened 16 forums and a campus-wide survey to measure the pulse of what is important to the campus community.
- University Strategic Planning Council: A group of faculty, staff and students brought together to develop and monitor the University Strategic Planning Process.
- Shared Governance Statement: A pending document that will be a framework for the collaborative administration of the University.
- Labor Council Meetings: A key part of shared governance, designed to improve the communication between the labor council and the president.
- University Budget Advisory Committee: Convened to help prioritize goals within the budget and to create transparency in the budget process.
- Presidential First-Generation Scholars: A scholarship program aimed at providing full academic scholarships to first-generation college students from our region.
- Food Pantry: Established as a way to help students address their food insecurities, the emergency pantry has been bolstered by a generous donation from the California Faculty Association at Stan State.
- Presidential Commission on Diversity and Inclusion: A new campus committee dedicated to making sure all Stan State students feel welcome, regardless of race, color, creed or sexual orientation.
- Space Audit: In keeping with the University’s desire to grow, one of the first steps was to determine how well Stan State is using the space it currently occupies — not only looking in campus buildings but across the entire 228-acre Turlock campus as well as the buildings it occupies at the Stockton Center.
- Technology report: University Information Technology has completed its campus-wide technology report as the first step toward the University addressing its most pressing technology needs.
- Community Connections: An ongoing look at how Stan State works with Turlock and neighboring cities. President Junn highlighted the recent agreement with the City of Turlock that allows Stan State students to ride free on the city’s bus lines.
- Inauguration: Already months in planning, President Junn’s Inauguration Season kicks off with this week’s Homecoming Week, and runs through the formal inauguration ceremony on March 30 and Commencement on May 25-26.