Welcome to the fall 2025 semester! Convocation is a particularly important day as it provides us an opportunity to both celebrate what we accomplished last year and focus anew on the promise and priorities of the upcoming academic year.
I start with thanks. Last year was a challenging one in so many ways. We tackled enrollment-driven budget deficits, we faced catastrophic state budget reductions, and we were rocked by turmoil and pain driven by drastic and frequent changes in federal policies. While these challenges sadly remain relevant today, I am deeply proud of the work we did together last year to ensure SFSU’s continued vitality.
Together, we advocated passionately for the value of the CSU and SFSU and were spared a catastrophic eight percent state cut. We prioritized compassion and supported one another as we navigated threats to members of our community and to federal funding.
We worked even harder to reduce costs in alignment with enrollments, and we start the year having made progress toward reducing our structural deficit. Just a few years ago, we had a staggering $36M deficit. This year we are projecting a $7M deficit. While any deficit is a cause for concern, our progress toward financial stability is impressive.
I cannot begin to express how grateful I am to each and every member of the Gator Family. I want to thank, in particular, members of the University Budget Committee, the Institutional Review Committee, college and departmental leaders, our vice presidents, and all faculty, staff and administrators who have worked – and are working – hard to make really difficult decisions. Thanks to all of you, we start the year strong.
Sadly, our challenges are far from over as uncertainty about the state budget and federal actions loom. This year’s state budget contains a three percent cut in recurring state funding with an offer of a one-time loan and future funding. These are far from typical funding mechanisms and have led to both confusion and uncertainty—what state funding can we actually count on beyond this budget year? The CSU is currently working with the state to better determine what funding the CSU can rely on in future years—and with that—what we can safely spend on recurring costs. There is still much we do not know.
And we must continue to reduce costs to close the remaining $7M budget deficit as well as to prepare for an anticipated $18.5 million reduction in our state allocation in alignment with the CSU’s reallocation plan. I encourage all to attend University Budget Committee meetings or review the materials on the committee’s website.
Today, though, I want to focus on our mission and the work we need to do to continue to meet it and meet it well.
Higher education is experiencing tremendous pressures—many observers believe we are at a critical inflection point that requires new ways of working, new ways of engaging students, and new ways of meeting our promise to educational equity and upward mobility.
SFSU has long been a leader in providing students access to upward mobility and we must remain so. To do so now, though, means confronting changing educational and economic landscapes and rethinking what we do to continue to serve students and the region well.
Like many regional public universities, SFSU is facing dramatic enrollment pressures driven in part by demographic decline but also by students and families choosing to attend universities they see as better poised to launch students into well-paying careers and by students and families choosing not to attend college at all as they question the value of a college degree.
Our own enrollment trends have shown that students are making increasingly pragmatic decisions — focused tightly on value, career outcomes, and affordability.
At the same time, the world around us is shifting at unprecedented speed. Generative AI is transforming the knowledge economy and with it education. Many employers are already asking prospective employees to demonstrate how they have used AI to solve problems or to work smarter. As AI takes on new roles and gains new abilities, the lowest rungs on career ladders are being rolled up and with them entry points to careers for our students. Graduates now need a new set of skills in addition to the ones we currently teach to be competitive.
Yes, these are certainly challenges, but as an educational institution located in the greatest city on the West Coast, we have unique opportunities to meet them…if we embrace innovation and work quickly together.
We must continue to make enrollment a top priority—both by identifying new potential student audiences for SF State and by strengthening our commitment to retaining the students we already serve. State legislators understand the CSU’s critical role in providing access to upward mobility, and they have expressed concern about declining CSU enrollments. Later this semester, the CSU is required to submit a plan to the state legislature outlining how we will stabilize enrollment, with particular attention to campuses like ours that have experienced declines.
With financial support from the CSU, we will redouble our efforts to identify new student audiences for SFSU. And we must also double down on our efforts to retain the students we enroll. We have some opportunities to stabilize and maybe even grow enrollment a bit—but only if we work together in new ways to attract and retain students.
To that end, and in alignment with a growing trend across the CSU and nationally, I have decided to make Enrollment Management a standalone division reporting directly to me. Its co-existence with Student Affairs has been excellent, and we have made great strides over the last few years. But Presidential sponsorship of what will be a major initiative for the next few years is critical at this historic moment in the college going landscape and with heightened legislative concern.
Katie Lynch will continue to serve as our senior enrollment officer, reporting to me and will serve as well on the leadership teams of Academic Affairs and Student Affairs. Stabilizing our enrollments as the state faces a rapidly shrinking pool of 17- and 18-year-olds is critical and can only be accomplished by doing things in new ways. I assure all that this is simply about making enrollment management a university priority and strengthening its reach. I have every confidence that Katie and her team will be very successful.
Maintaining our market share of college-going students also requires that we reimagine ourselves in other ways—first, as a launchpad for careers by growing our industry partnerships and hands-on learning. And, second as a launchpad for the AI-powered workforce that takes advantage of our location in San Francisco, the city now identified as the capital of the AI revolution.
We must create, revise and strengthen majors and certificates that very intentionally align with career opportunities. We must more intentionally support career and leadership development and experiential learning. And we must clearly demonstrate how a SF State degree addresses the key concerns of prospective students from affordability to purpose-driven innovative educational experiences to rewarding careers.
We must make sure that students see our degrees as educationally transformative and as engines of economic opportunity.
I am not suggesting we become a different university. We can lean into what makes SFSU distinct in ways that the purpose-driven young people of today and tomorrow can relate to—a university that embraces its responsibility for post-collegiate outcomes. A university that transforms lives and promises upward mobility. A university where equity, innovation, and community meet.
This is not just about enrollment. This is about making sure that the promise of public higher education — of transformation, of mobility, of impact — is not lost in this new economy.
I know this isn’t easy, and I know it can feel downright scary, especially in the context of shrinking budgets and federal uncertainty. But we owe it to this University and to our students to embrace this work. And if we get it right, we don’t just stabilize enrollment. We grow. We lead. We thrive.
And I need us to do this together. I encourage every single member of the Gator Family to embrace their role as an ambassador for the University, knowing that the work each of you does contributes to student retention and success, and we need you to tell our story loudly and proudly.
I am certain that many here and many of our students, faculty, and staff who aren’t with us today are concerned about current events - especially about federal actions which directly affect higher education and our students. Among those areas of concern is anxiety about the potential for immigration activities. We have sent out multiple messages over the past year with essential information and will again next week.
Today I just want to point out that there are red cards like this one which were distributed before Convocation and are still available in the lobby as you leave. These cards are a great reminder of constitutional rights as they relate to immigration activities. They have been - and will continue to be - available across campus.
As we start the semester with much uncertainty, I encourage all to show compassion for one another and continue the support we have shown to all members of the Gator family.
I conclude as I always do—with deep appreciation for all you do. Next week, we welcome 5500 new students, and our campus will once again hum with the energy of 21,000 students.
Thanks to all of you, these remarkable students can be assured they will receive the very best educational experience at SFSU and graduate well-prepared for rewarding careers. Thank you! With great gratitude, I wish all a good start of the semester.