Open forum for provost candidate

An open forum to meet provost and vice president of academic affairs candidate Dr. Luis Cifuentes will be held on Wednesday April 22, 2009 from 1 – 2 p.m. in the Alice Peters Auditorium.

If chosen, Cifuentes who currently works for Texas A&M University, will replace Dr. Jeronima Echeverria, who was named associate vice chancellor for academic affairs of the California State University system.

Echeverria began her new position in February. Dr. Dennis Nef, a veteran faculty member and administrator, is the interim provost and vice president of student affairs. The campus is encouraged to attend the forum to meet the candidate and provide feedback to the search committee.

Conference covers 400 years of history

On Saturday April 25, the 11th Annual History Graduate Student Association (HGSA) Symposium, “Perceptions of the Past,â€Â will feature more than 400 years of history that has been examined by students.

The conference is free and will begin at 8:30 a.m. at the University Business Center in the Peters Business Building. Sessions will be held throughout the day. Five panels will feature more than a dozen history graduate students from across the country presenting their research.

Dr. Kathryn Olmsted of the University of California, Davis will deliver the keynote address based on her recently released book titled, “Real Enemies: Conspiracy Theories and American Democracy, World War 1 to 9/11.â€Â

California first state to be receiving stimulus money for universities

Stimulus money for education will not provide much relief to CSU̢۪s budget deficit. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger announced April 18 that California is the first state in the nation to receive federal stimulus money that will be passed on the state̢۪s universities.

Schwarzenegger submitted an application requesting that California receive its share of the Education Stabilization Fund that was created as part of the federal stimulus bill. He requested $268.5 million of one-time funds, including $255 million already built into the budget.

Because the funds were part of the approved budget, they are not new and do not change the CSU̢۪s difficult budget situation. The CSU̢۪s budget remains underfunded by $587 million due to budget cuts and required new costs.