A Moment with President Tomás Morales – September 2023

Fall Semester 2023 is well and truly launched at CSUSB. Orientation for new students and faculty has been completed and classes have begun.  The challenge this year was Tropical Storm Hilary, which arrived just in time for Move-In Day on the San Bernardino Campus.  Happily, both the San Bernardino and Palm Desert campuses made it through the storm without any significant damage. But I know that many communities in the IE were not as fortunate and, on behalf of CSUSB, I hope that you, your family and friends made it safely through.

Convocation is the formal launch of the academic year.  At this August’s annual event, I was pleased to welcome 40 new faculty members to the campus, along with new staff and administrators. The event also marks the first year for all new Coyotes and the beginning of the final year (or semester) for those at the end of their academic journey with us and who are standing on the cusp of graduation.

We celebrated the gains of the last year:

• Our Master of Science in Physician Assistant Program continued its preparations for accepting its first class in the fall 2025 semester and anticipates achieving Accreditation-Provisional status in March 2025.  We appreciate the $2 Million in support we received through the efforts of Congressional Representative Pete Aguilar and California Senator Alex Padilla along with the $14.3 Million secured by California State Senator Richard Roth.
• As part of our strategic plan, our commitment to internationalization remains strong. And we have been making progress in this area. As I previously shared with you in June, CSUSB signed an MOU with Lviv Polytechnic University in Ukraine. I had the honor to travel to Cracow, Poland this past May, to formalize the agreement.
• We’ve strengthened our ties with the First Peoples in the Inland Empire, including signing an MOU with California Indian Nations College.  This is part of our goal to ensure CSUSB serves all the residents of our region by growing our outreach to this student population and establishing the infrastructure on campus to support this group of students through their academic journey.
• And both of our campuses have been busy with building projects. They include: Baseball and Softball Fields, our latest Energy Saving Initiative, the future home for our MSPA program, the future Performing Arts Center, the future Palm Desert Campus Student Services Center and our Housing Project partnership.

Supported by the campaign protocols established by the Council for Advancement and Support of Education or CASE—the leader in educational advancement—last fall we launched the public phase of our $200 Million blended comprehensive campaign. I am proud to state that we have achieved our overall goal of raising $200 million already!  However, we are still short of meeting our full philanthropic goal. The campaign will therefore remain active until June 30, 2026, providing further opportunities for growth and expansion of its objectives. 

I would also like to congratulate the division of University Advancement for winning Outstanding Foundation of the Year by the Association of Fundraising Professionals Inland Empire Chapter and the Council for Advancement and Support of Education 2022 Best of District VII Award for Homecoming 2021.

I want to take a moment to highlight the vital role that CSUSB graduates play right here in the Inland Empire. Seventy-five percent of our alumni live and contribute to the IE’s development.  They range from:

• an alumna who is the publisher of one of the leading Black newspapers in the U.S. to
• an alumnus whose work in the entertainment industry includes being a successful screenwriter, narrative designer and creative executive (at both film studios and in the gaming industry) to
• an alumnus who leads a multi-county network to
•  alums who founded a winery in Temecula to
• alums who founded a chain of pharmacies.
• And both county superintendents of schools are alumni!
• We can’t forget the business world, as we have alums who lead major regional economic initiatives like IEEP. And alums involved at the leadership level ranging from national organizations to global financial organizations.
• We especially can’t forget our faculty and staff who are alumni as well.

CSUSB Coyotes are everywhere, making a difference each and every day.

So I am proud to announce that we will be holding our inaugural all-campus Alumni Hall of Fame celebration early in the Spring Semester. More information will be made available closer to the date.

There is so much to celebrate in being a Coyote this academic year!

Until next time—