The Chico State Parent Advisory Council Celebrates the Start of its Third Year

Amid all the challenges, there are some great things taking place on the Chico State campus. One of the highlights is the Chico State Parent Advisory Council (PAC) kicked off the start of their third year of operation during the October 2009 Family Weekend events.

Started with just 12 members, the PAC held their first meeting in October 2007. Only three members attended the first meeting. How things change; there are now 30 members of the PAC, with the intent to grow to 40 members by February 2010.

Bob Combs, president of the PAC, says, "I want the PAC to be inclusive. This is the only organization representing all parents of Chico State Students, and all parents who want to be a part of this effort should be able to participate."

PAC members in attendance at the Sunday, October 11 meeting heard from University President Paul Zingg, Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs Leslie Nix-Baker, Student Health Service Director Cathy Felix, and Vice President for University Advancement Rick Ellison.

President Zingg talked to the group about the challenges and impacts to the University presented by the current situation in the State of California. There was much discussion surrounding the need for advocacy of Chico State, the CSU system, and higher education in general by parents, alumni, and friends of the institution. President Zingg also talked about some of the great things happening at Chico State including the WASC 10-year reaccreditation and the high rankings of the institution in prestigious, national publications.

Student Health Service Director Cathy Felix brought in two students, Joey Combs and Stephanie Dunbar, to provide the PAC with a presentation on H1N1 Flu prevention. Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs Leslie Nix-Baker talked to the group about how administrators and faculty are using the current fiscal challenge as an opportunity to identify learning alternatives for students, and to eliminate instructional redundancies. Vice President for University Advancement Rick Ellison shared the early successful results of the Annual Fund phone calling of parents. He also had Alumni and Parent Relations Director Susan Anderson share plans for next year's Chico Experience Week to be kicked off October 8-10, 2010 with Family Weekend events.

More information on the PAC is available online at http://www.csuchico.edu/alumni/parents/council.php.

The next meeting of the council is scheduled for Saturday, February 27, 2010. We hope you can join us.