Sacramento State faculty and administrators used this year’s Faculty Senate Retreat to work together to lay out goals for the future of the university.

The annual retreat is an opportunity for faculty and administrators to gather and discuss the upcoming school year, as well as the long-term goals for Sac State.

Bruce Bikle, associate professor of Criminal Justice at Sac State and president of the Faculty Senate, said the goal is to get people thinking and excited about the upcoming year.

A major topic was the Destination 2010 initiative. Destination 2010 is a long-term plan established in 2004 to set goals for the future of the university. The initiative laid out specific areas for the campus community to target increased growth and public visibility. The goals are to be met by the 2010 academic year.

Progress has been made in reaching the goals set out by Destination 2010, said Sac State President Alexander Gonzalez during his fall address. Construction of the new bookstore, the Broad Athletic Facility, new residence halls, the wellness center and renovations of older buildings are all part of the plan.

Members of the Faculty Senate began their discussions at the retreat about the universities next set of goals.

“We are planning ahead 10 years,” Bikle said. “There are demands for housing, classes, and public transit that must be met. We are discussing working on a second campus in Placer County. We need to meet the needs of the future student.”

Bikle said planning for the future means knowing who the students of the future are.

“We need to know what our students want, what they are majoring in and what they want to do with an education,” Bikle said. “We need to plan ahead to be ready for the next generation of students.”

Periodically, the university reviews the classes offered for general education credits in an effort to maximize the education given to lower division classes. Faculty would like to restructure the classes offered so that thy can be applied to different areas of the general education requirements.

The Faculty Senate plans to form committees and discussion groups during the first several weeks of fall semester to prepare a set of goals for modifying future classes.

With the budget impasse already having an effect on campus, faculty and administration addressed the issue of class sizes at Sac State. Bikle said large class sizes in some areas, like writing intensive classes, will lower the quality of instruction.

Sac State has seen an increase in the number of students enrolled in graduate programs. Twenty percent of students at the university are graduate students, Bikle said. Reorganizing graduate programs will be one of the items the Faculty Senate will address.

“The graduate programs are not tightly organized,” Bikle said. “There’s not much continuity, and there needs to be more formality in terms of the administration.”

Bikle said Sac State is moving toward offering more applied doctoral degrees in the future.

Resolution of the disagreement between faculty and administration was a big issue last semester. Last semester, both parties agreed to work with an outside organization to resolve issues of campus management and improve communication.

This reconciliation became necessary after a vote of no confidence in President Gonzalez by the Faculty Senate in 2007 caused a breakdown in the working relationship between the faculty and administration. A report presented by the Center for Collaborative Policy last semester offered methods to repair the working environment. Both administrators and faculty elected to take part in the reconciliation processes offered by the Center.

Bikle said the Faculty Senate and the Administration have made progress over the summer. The two parties have begun working together better and are ready to open discussions of the future of the university with administrators.

Joseph Sheley, provost and vice president of Academic Affairs attended the retreat and discussed the current university budget concerns with the faculty and administrators.

“I enjoyed talking about the substantive issues with the faculty and administration. The discussions were first rate,” Sheley said. “There is the real possibility for positive change in the future year.”

Marilyn Hopkins, dean of the college of health and human services said she felt like everyone had the opportunity to speak in discussions and was respected for their thoughts.

“It was a good way to begin the year,” Hopkins said. “We have an environment of change at Sac State, often unpredictable change, and the retreat is a good start to dealing with those challenges.”

Derek Fleming can be reached at [email protected]