Today’s academic senate marked the first senate meeting for the 2025–26 school year. Last academic year, the senate ended with a lot of turmoil and division about the vote of no confidence pertaining to Dr. Mildred Garcia, the Chancellor of the CSU system. This academic senate meeting saw the continuation of this topic alongside some new items brought to the floor.
The discussion item for today’s senate pertained to the vote of no confidence in Chancellor Mildred Garcia and CSU Board of Trustees. The overall consensus was that the faculty have low confidence in both the Chancellor and how the university is handling this situation.
“Maybe less of a vote of no confidence but passing a list of demands or actions we want the chancellor office to take,” Senator Nakano stated as he commented on the vote of no confidence, and some creative ways to send a message to the chancellor’s office.
The start of the meeting began with the call to order, which was followed by the land acknowledgement. The senators for the 2025-26 school year introduced themselves during the announcement section of the meeting, which highlighted new and old faces on the board.
The Faculty Budget Advisory Committee (FBAC) gave some updates pertaining to the state budget cuts. The CSU system as a whole received budget cuts, but Stan State was specifically cut 3.1 million. The CSU system received an offer of a no interest loan to cover the deficit, but it has yet to be accepted.
As of right now, students are able to either buy or rent their textbooks. FBAC has mentioned charging a fee to students for automatic access to books and potentially more. This is a proposal by the bookstore that has not been voted on yet.
The first reading item of the day was about a new Geographic Information (GIS) certificate. Professor McNally from the Geography & Environmental Resources department talked about how for more than 20 twenty years there has been steady demand for employees with GIS skills.
Many of the CSU Stanislaus graduates have already gone to complete GIS certificates and master’s degrees in other universities. This certificate will offer students in this field an affordable and convenient opportunity.
During the open forum of the senate the email that was sent out earlier today about the possible expansion in the San Joaquin Valley in the Tracy area was brought to attention.
Ian Hippensteele, a guest attending the meeting, had a few words to share pertaining to this issue.
“President Rios-Ellis seems to have found money in a couch to build an academic center in Tracy,” Hipposenteele stated.
Both Senator Justin Gilmore and Senator Bret Carroll agreed with Hippensteele. Senator Gilmore giving him a thumbs up through zoom and Senator Carroll giving him a round of applause using emojis through zoom.
Provost Rich Ogle shared a few words about this possible new development in Tracy.
“Wanna be very clear, there is no solution to our budget problem at this point in time” Provost Ogle stated.
