CLARIFICATION: The lead paragraph has been changed to reflect that bonds, donations and funds have helped with construction costs. Construction across campus continues through the use of state funding, bonds and even donations despite deep budget cuts in recent years. Colin Donahue, director of Facilities Planning, Design and Construction at CSUN, said the University has spent $850 million on several construction projects since 2002, with nearly $400 million of that spent on earthquake recovery. Donahue said the construction budget is… Read more

In a recent paper published by two Harvard graduate students, it was found that the use of text messaging and peer mentoring kept students from falling through the cracks before entering college. Ben Castleman, a doctoral candidate in the Quantitative Policy Analysis program at the Harvard Graduate School of Education that co-authored “Summer Nudging: Can Personalized Text Messages and Peer Mentor Outreach Increase College Going Among Low-Income High School Graduates?” with Lindsay Page, said the paper is about two interventions… Read more

CSUN’s Physical Plant Management is in the process of replacing certain lawns with native plants to reduce the cost of water and maintenance. James Sutton, director of facility services at Physical Plant Management, said these specific lawn areas, or parkways, are being renovated because they are “low-use and high maintenance.” “This renovation project is an experimental project in the very beginning stages,” Sutton said. “What we’re looking at doing in these areas is putting in drought-tolerant plants that are native… Read more

Assemblyman Scott Wilk (R-Santa Clarita) proposed a new bill suggesting a fourth university system in California, which would be called the New University of California. The new system, as explained in AB 1306, would be an addition to the three systems already in place: University of California, California State University and California Community Colleges (CCC). The New University of California, according to the text of the bill, will not provide instruction “and the mission of the university shall be limited… Read more

A new bill has been introduced by Assembly members Beth Gaines and Mike Morrell that would return Cal Grant awards to the full amount before the 2012-13 budget cuts. Gaines, representative for the 6th District, co-authored AB 1085 with Morrell, representative for the 40th District, to combat the cuts to Cal Grant funding for students at private universities. Gaines said the funding was cut from $9,708 to $4,000.  “I see this as a problem because the Cal Grant program is… Read more

CSUN continues to closely monitor incoming emails  in the midst of persistence by hackers who break into servers. After a cheating scandal hit Harvard,  a group of deans were outraged last fall by their emails having been monitored without their knowing. Chris Olsen, senior director of infrastructure services at CSUN, said the campus takes personal privacy very seriously as stated in the Privacy of Personal Information section of Policies and Procedures. “CSUN is responsible for taking all reasonable and appropriate… Read more

A new initiative has been proposed to raise the tax on a pack of cigarettes in an effort to raise money for financial aid at California State University and University of California schools. The California Residents College Accessibility and Affordability Act of 2014, which is set to go on the November 2014 ballot and would go into effect in the 2015-16 academic year, would increase the tax by $1 for every pack of 20 cigarettes and the money would then… Read more

A recent study found that CSU students have one of the lowest debt levels in the nation, with CSUN averaging $16,172, slightly lower than the CSU average. Matthew Reed, program director at the Institute of College Access and Success, where the study was done, said “Student Debt and the Class of 2011” is the seventh annual report on cumulative debt for students in public and private non-profit four-year colleges. “We take the data for each college as reported to Peterson’s (as well as data… Read more