Sean McMinn
smcminn@mustangdaily.net
California State University (CSU) Chancellor Timothy White arrived at Cal Poly this Wednesday for the latest stop on his tour across the state to visit all 23 CSU campuses.
In an interview with Mustang Daily at the Poly Canyon Village apartments, White said he saw Cal Poly as one of the more “mature” campuses in the CSU system, referring to its more than 100-year presence in the state.
“I don’t want to regress all 23 campuses to a common denominator,” White said. “I want the unique strengths of each campus and the uniqueness of each campus to be able to flourish.”
The chancellor would not go as far as to call Cal Poly a “superior” campus to the rest of the CSUs, as some students have suggested. Instead, he said it was a different kind of university — one with an important emphasis on Learn By Doing and a knack for engineering, architecture and environmental science.
White also addressed semesters at Cal Poly, an issue that’s been under heightened debate since Cal Poly President Jeffrey Armstrong told campus in March that he and White had agreed to begin converting the university from quarters to semesters by 2020. Adding to what Armstrong said in his statement, White said the plan for conversion is still a “work in progress.”
“This was something the system was trying to do and didn’t get done before my time,” White said. “So I didn’t realize there was resistance anywhere. I just thought it was a project that needed to be finished up.”
Following the interview, White attended a student reception in the Poly Canyon Village Plaza, in the middle of the on-campus apartments. He spoke briefly about Cal Poly and its “Learn By Doing motif,” then talked with students. Nearby, staff from Jamba Juice, Einstein Bros Bagels and Peet’s Coffee and Tea served free refreshments in the plaza.
Throughout his visit, White will meet with the Academic Senate executive committee, college deans, the Cal Poly Labor Council and university advisory board members, according to Cal Poly spokesperson Matt Lazier.
The university will hold an official welcome reception at 3 p.m. in the Christopher Cohan Performing Arts Center on Thursday, followed by an open forum. At 6 p.m., White will attend a Learn By Doing showcase and an alumni reception in Chumash Auditorium. An invite-only, $75 dinner will also draw alumni, volunteers and donors. Several hundred are expected to attend the dinner in Mott Athletics Center, according to Cal Poly presidential communications director Chip Visci.
White is in for a different sort of welcome as well though, as students are planning to protest the chancellor’s pro-semester view today as well, beginning on Dexter Lawn in the afternoon, then moving to the open forum.
White is visiting each of the CSU campuses during his first year in office, which started at the beginning of 2013. Cal Poly is the eighth stop for White, who was at San Diego State University this past week.