Cal Poly President Jeffrey Armstrong’s mission during his first year in office was student success, and in one word, he said that mission has been “exciting.”
Armstrong, whose one-year milestone is marked today, said he entered the university with a focus on student success and “Learn By Doing.” That focus, he said, has only gotten stronger.
“Those two things, especially student success — what’s best for students — I work very hard every day to make sure my decisions are guided by that,” he said.
But financial struggles and proposed tuition raises have threatened to derail that path to success. Just last December, trigger cuts from the state level reduced the California State University (CSU) budget by $100 million — Cal Poly’s was reduced by $5.3 million. In November, the CSU Board of Trustees approved a $498 fee increase for students at each of the 23 campuses in the CSU system. Still, Armstrong said he is confident Cal Poly will be able to overcome the financial problems.
“No matter what happens with the budget, we’re going to succeed,” he said. “That’s the Learn By Doing spirit.”
Now, Cal Poly faces a proposed Student Success Fee that could raise tuition by $260 per quarter. Armstrong said this, combined with more support from the California legislature, is a part of the plan to get Cal Poly’s finances in order.
“We have been very blessed with support from the state of California, but it has waned,” he said. “Our support from the state of California has dropped from over $130 million down to about $80 million.”
As the university president, Armstrong will have the final say on whether or not to recommend the fee to CSU Chancellor Charles Reed. He said if the students are overwhelmingly against the tuition raise, “it would be very difficult to recommend it.”
In his first year, Armstrong also dealt with challenges that plague undergraduate universities across the country when underage partying, binge drinking and alleged sexual assaults all came to the forefront during the last year.
Last May, three sexual assaults — one off campus and two in Poly Canyon Village apartments — were reported within nine days of each other. The alleged assaults brought attention to Cal Poly on a statewide scale.
Armstrong said education was the key to the university’s response to incidents such as these.
“The sexual assaults were unfortunate, and though I wish that something like that wouldn’t occur, the fact that students felt comfortable to report them, that was encouraging,” he said.
Christina Kaviani, a coordinator at the Gender Equity Center, said she noticed an increase in Armstrong’s involvement with Cal Poly’s sexual assault and relationship violence prevention program, Safer, since the incidents. He spoke alongside Safer at a presentation for all Week of Welcome leaders and greek life members, which she said was “huge.”
“He’s definitely been checking in to see how Safer is doing on a regular basis, and I can see he cares deeply about it,” she said. “He’s definitely more visible, always wanting to be there.”
Armstrong also presided over the disciplinary action of two greek chapters in his first year at Cal Poly.
In August, director of Student Life and Leadership Stephan Lamb chose to disaffiliate the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity, where the first reported sexual assault allegedly took place. The disaffiliation, however, came from alcohol policy violations and was not related to the incident. Then, in October, the Alpha Phi sorority was found guilty of hazing by the Office of Student Life and Leadership. The chapter was subsequently put on a five-month suspension.
“No matter what you’re doing, you’re wearing those Cal Poly letters, you’re wearing those greek letters and you’re representing Cal Poly,” Armstrong said. “If you’re so drunk you’re a danger to yourself or someone else or you’re allowing someone to take advantage of someone else because they’re inebriated, that’s not a good thing. And that’s not a way we want to see our Cal Poly students behave.”
Coordinator of greek life Diego Silva said Armstrong has always been supportive of initiatives to better fraternities and sororities on campus. He said the president’s attendance at inter fraternity meetings demonstrated his desire to be involved in the greek system. Silva said since Armstrong comes from a greek organization himself, students give him instant credibility in their interactions with him.
“He went through something very similar to what they are,” Silva said. “That always breaks the ice and makes the relationship very comfortable.”
As an alumnus of Alpha Gamma Rho, Armstrong said he understand the values of the university greek systems, but also knows the downfalls. He said though Sigma Phi Epsilon and Alpha Phi deserved punishment, the two organizations should not bring down the whole system.
“It’s an ongoing constant vigil,” he said of his goals for the university’s response to the incidents. “Education is a very key part of it. Expectation is another key step. We have certain expectations, and those two entities did not meet the expectations. And there were repercussions.”
Armstrong was also the subject of a legal dispute in his first year on the job. A lawsuit from California Faculty Association President Lillian Taiz alleged the CSU violated an open-meeting law when it approved a $380,000 salary for Armstrong. The lawsuit, however, was thrown out in late October by a Los Angeles judge. Armstrong said he was never concerned about the charges.
“Frankly, I never worried about the lawsuit because I didn’t take it personally,” he said. “It was really a lawsuit against the system, and I happened to be the person who was the new president at that time.”
A month after Armstrong took office, Don Oberhelman was selected as the new athletics director. Armstrong said he recognizes the importance of athletics coming from his old university, sports powerhouse Michigan Sate. He said he holds a similar philosophy to Oberhelman on student-athletes: get them a degree and a championship.
Armstrong said he and his wife, Sharon, frequent Mustang athletics in a wide range of sports, and he is excited about all the athletics programs on campus, not just the big-name sports like football and basketball.
“I’m very pleased about what Don has done, but we still have work to do,” he said. “We need to increase our fundraising. It’s important for all aspects of the university, but it’s especially important for athletics.”
Armstrong succeeded interim president Robert Glidden, who began in August 2010. Glidden took over after former-president Warren Baker retired in July 2010. Armstrong is Cal Poly’s 12th president.