President Qayoumi and students

“I am hopeful that today’s Senate conversation, and others to come, will bring us closer together and help us exceed our individual and collective aspirations,” President Qayoumi said.

President Mohammad Qayoumi shared the following statement with the campus community following an Academic Senate discussion on Nov. 18 about SJSU’s governance:

Late Monday afternoon, our Academic Senate approved a resolution asking the Chancellor’s Office to initiate a review of university governance.

As a community, let us do all we can to support the Chancellor’s Office in responding to this request.

San Jose State’s tradition of shared governance is embodied in its Academic Senate, where elected faculty, staff, student, administrative and alumni representatives discuss and debate important issues.

Today’s Senate discussion revealed a desire for more transparency about our priorities and explored questions about some aspects of university governance.

San Jose State — indeed, California’s entire public higher education system — has coped for the last half decade with unstable, unpredictable public support. We all know that these economic conditions and related factors have impacted students and their families, and our capacity to serve them.

Since 2011, we have confronted these issues while laying a foundation for a stable, bright future. Together, we have faced and surmounted some tough challenges, including erasing a structural budget deficit of $32 million. Other challenges remain, but I believe we are on the right track.

As I said during the meeting, communication is the basis for effective governance. I am hopeful that today’s Senate conversation, and others to come, will bring us closer together and help us exceed our individual and collective aspirations.