Chancellor for the California State University (CSU), Joseph Castro, visited Cal Poly San Luis Obispo over Zoom May 25.
Castro met with Cal Poly President Jeffrey Armstrong to discuss the upcoming school year, which for Cal Poly students starts Sept. 20.
During the visit, Castro outlined five priorities for the 23 campuses in the CSU system. He said his first priority is to safely transition the universities back to in-person instruction.
“From a CSU system perspective, we are planning to have a majority of our courses in person across the campuses,” Castro said. “There will be some variation depending on the campus.”
Many CSU students will be required to get a COVID-19 vaccine before returning to their respective campuses; however, Castro said there are some exceptions where students may not need to get a vaccine including for medical and religious reasons.
Armstrong said during the meeting that he supports the COVID-19 vaccine requirement for in-person learning.
“I am very supportive of the chancellor's decision to require vaccinations if the emergency use authorization is dropped,” Armstrong said. “I think that is the best thing we can do to transition back in person safely.”
Castro said another one of his top priorities is the mental health of CSU students, faculty and staff. He said CSU officials are working to secure funding for mental health services.
“We sponsored legislation to provide additional funding for mental health. If that bill doesn’t pass, we may have another opportunity to get other dollars from another vehicle,” Castro said. “This is to say that we are going to do more across the system.”
The other four priorities Castro discussed at the meeting include stabilizing and increasing funding from state government; increasing graduation rates and eliminating equity gaps; excellerating the diversity of faculty and incorporating technology more strategically to enhance education.
Find more information about university reopening plans at the CSU website.
