CSUCI president welcomes staff with praise, updates on progress

California State University Channel Islands President Richard R. Rush welcomed new and returning members of the faculty, along with administration and staff, at a ceremony on Aug. 23. The fall semester classes began on Monday.

Rush began his address by commending the campus community for its work in gaining accreditation through the Western Association of Colleges and Universities.

The president delivered an update on the major projects happening at the university, including the first announcement of the groundbreaking for the Martin V. Smith Center for Integrative Decision-Making. The stateoftheart facility will connect the university's MVS School of Business and Economics with financial markets and is the first step in attracting community utilization of the campus.

Rush also announced that the university had received a $100,000 donation from an anonymous donor to begin the planning and design work for a performing arts complex on campus.

The construction of the John Spoor Broome Library is on schedule and on budget, Rush said, and the new student housing, Santa Cruz Village, is now open, providing 450 more beds. The expansion of the dining commons will accommodate 200 diners, and the The Cove bookstore opened at Town Center, which gives the bookstore nearly twice the area of its former location.

Following his comments, Rush spoke about what lies ahead for the university in the 200708 academic year and beyond.

"How will we be engaged?" Rush asked. "As we review our Strategic Plan this year, I will ask the committee- and all of us- how we might incorporate issues of substance and future importance into the marrow of our structure."