Dear Campus Community,
Welcome back, Toros! I hope you enjoyed your summer, and that you are ready for a fantastic semester here at CSUDH, because we have so much to be excited about as we start the academic year. Between newly opened facilities, fresh faces on campus, and upcoming opportunities to gather together, the reasons to be proud of this university keep growing. Check out my welcome video from earlier this week for more.
As we begin a new academic year, I want to start with saying a few Thank yous, because so much of what makes this university strong happened before the fall semester even began. Thank you to everyone who gave up time in early June for the Academic Portfolio Transformation Institute, and to everyone who kept that work moving all summer long. Curriculum is central to this effort, but its success depends on every part of the university: technology, student support, and beyond, and I’m grateful for how many of you showed up for it.
Thank you as well to the Office of First- and Second-Year Experience, and to the more than 80 staff and faculty volunteers who hosted welcome activities across campus. I offer special recognition for those who staffed “Ask Me” tents that helped over 1,500 students find their way, gather resources, and feel at home here.
Our institutional priorities
This year, we will continue to organize our work around our three institutional priorities: academic portfolio transformation, the student life cycle, and infrastructure and talent strategy. Each now carries a clear commitment behind it: to steward the conditions that let learning and teaching flourish; to place the student experience at the center of how we work together; and to build trust and accountability across people, process, and decisions. These aren’t siloed initiatives; they’re a connective framework tying our divisions to a shared direction, and I’ll report on our progress at every Senate meeting this year.
Supporting this work, Dr. Corinne Martinez has taken on a new role as Special Assistant for Organizational Effectiveness, partnering across Cabinet, divisional leadership, and shared governance to advance these priorities.
Budget and enrollment
I’d also like to share good news about where we stand financially. For the first time in 13 years, we closed the fiscal year without dipping into reserves, which is a real achievement built on discipline across every division. That said, real structural challenges remain, and closing those gaps is a shared responsibility across the university. As we build this year’s budget, our institutional priorities will guide our spending decisions.
On enrollment, I have good news: CSUDH is on track to meet the Chancellor’s Office enrollment target. We had strong yield for the incoming Fall 2026 class, even as applications dipped. That means a higher percentage of admitted students are choosing to enroll at CSUDH. And this is no surprise! When students learn more about CSUDH, they want to be here. I see this as directly connected to the work so many of us did last year in reaching out to and connecting with admitted students. Faculty, staff, and even current students played a much bigger role in that outreach, and we want to build on those successes in the future.
Looking ahead
In the next few days, we will be launching our planning groups to prepare the university for the 2028 Olympics. The CSUDH community will lead on determining how we approach our role in this event, with the Cabinet playing a supporting role. For those of you who want to be part of these planning teams, you can fill out this form to share your interest and expertise. We have also launched our LA28 website, which our team will update as more information becomes available. The Olympics represent a significant undertaking for this university, and a significant opportunity as well, one which we will be ready for.
People often ask me about the presidential search process and timeline. The Board of Trustees leads the search process, and I don’t have a timeline to share, as the Board has not yet created its committee. I can tell you the process will include real opportunities for your voice to be heard, including at the very least, an on-campus open forum and a format for submitting comments about what attributes the next president should bring.
Thank you for everything you do here. I look forward to seeing you around campus this year.
With gratitude,
Mary Ann Villarreal, Ph.D.
Interim President
