CSU legislative staff visits CSUSB San Bernardino and Palm Desert campuses

Members of the California State University legislative staff toured Cal State San Bernardino and its Palm Desert Campus to learn more about the university system’s satellite campuses as well as its main campuses.
 
The CSU legislative staff, who advise state legislators on CSU budget and policy issues, visited the Palm Desert Campus on Oct. 14 and the San Bernardino campus on Oct. 15.
 
While at the PDC, the visitors were given an overview on the history of the PDC campus, its demographics, its impact to the region, CSUSB’s aspirations for the campus, enrollment management, budgeting and resource management, including the campus master plan, and the PDC’s partnership with the city of Palm Desert.
 
The next day the visitors toured the San Bernardino campus where they received an overview of the campus and its Inland Empire service region, the campus budget planning, its enrollment management, student success services and programs, the campus infrastructure and its partnerships with school districts, community colleges, businesses and communities in the two-county region.
 
CSUSB President Tomás D. Morales welcomed the visitors with the hope “that this visit will afford you a chance to acquaint yourselves with the Inland Empire, its challenges and its potential.”
 
Morales said the Inland Empire has been identified as one of three regions needing to increase college degree attainment in order to help this state meet its growing need for educated workers, according to a 2017 Public Policy Institute of California report.
 
He said that according to the Census Bureau’s 2018 American Community Survey, only 19.8 percent of individuals 25 and older living in San Bernardino County and 21.5 percent of Riverside County residents 25 and older have earned a bachelor’s degree or higher. Both are well below the national and statewide rates of 35 and 33 percent, respectively.
 
But Morales said that the university is working internally and with its education, business and community partners to increase the number of college and university graduates.
 
“Cal State San Bernardino is proud to be at the forefront of efforts to improve those attainment rates,” Morales said.