NOTE: The following remarks were offered at the California State University Board of Trustees Committee on Educational Policy Concerning the San Francisco State University Partnership with Cañada College held Jan. 28, 2003

Pathways began with Rosa Perez. Some three years ago she approached me, looking for a university partner who could help her students -- and others in San Mateo County -- move beyond associate degrees while staying in their home area. She envisioned connecting her students with upper division and graduate classes that would be offered on-site at her campus.

I was interested immediately. First of all, as you will see, Rosa’s enthusiasm was contagious. Second, Cañada fit us perfectly. We feel a connection to San Mateo County -- in fact, it is second only to San Francisco itself as a feeder area for us. We knew that students in that county who needed for work or family reasons to take classes close to home had limited upper division alternatives, as the county lacked a public, four-year institution. San Francisco State also was looking for ways to serve more students at off-campus sites.

Cañada fit these goals perfectly. Its students and the community it serves are demographically very close to San Francisco State’s own – no racial majority group; the vast majority working, many full-time; many re-entry students, especially women; 40% speaking a language other than English at home; motivated to continue their education, but pressed for both time and money. These were students we wanted to educate.

The resulting collaboration, Pathways, allows Cañada College students -- and their counterparts throughout the San Mateo Community College District -- to be admitted to San Francisco State, but take upper division courses on-site at Cañada. Barriers of time and distance disappear, and students who could not travel to our campus -- or find parking! -- can still move ahead on San Francisco State degrees. We have begun with programs that link particularly well with Cañada’s strengths and with our state and region’s workforce needs -- single- and multiple-subject teacher certification; child and adolescent development; and business administration. More Pathways options are in the works.

Once students are admitted to San Francisco State, and to Pathways, we bring the University to them -- everything from our faculty who travel to Cañada to a photographer to take the pictures for their San Francisco State student ID cards.

We were breaking new ground in creating Pathways and, fortunately, we did a critical first thing right: We involved members of both faculties immediately. We brought faculty from both campuses together over several months, asking them to focus on programs with three characteristics: they addressed job market needs; they were strong on both campuses, with good existing articulation; and they included faculty who were eager to teach in this new setting.

In the meanwhile, a two-campus administrative team went to work on the many logistical issues -- such things as our differing calendars; student access to both campus’s libraries; parking; offices and telephones for the SFSU faculty; methods of registering, advising and providing a range of support services to Pathways students.

Though it is simple in the telling, bringing Pathways to life took tremendous effort, good will, and trust on both sides. And throughout the planning process, we found these traits in abundance. I am proud of the work of colleagues at San Francisco State and deeply appreciative of the splendid contributions of Cañada faculty members. They demonstrated a powerful commitment to their students and a readiness to look with fresh eyes at new ways of serving them.

San Francisco State University is proud to have pioneered this program with Cañada College, but we are even more pleased not to remain unique. What began as a gleam in Rosa Perez’ eye is now an educational partnership that we hope -- and fully expect -- will become a useful and widely imitated model.

We are, by the way, getting excellent press coverage, as exemplified by this morning’s San Francisco Chronicle article, copies of which have been, or are being, distributed to you.

I would now like to ask President Perez to add her perspectives -- on her students, the community, and the difference she sees the Pathways project making in many lives.