Updates on Campus Conversations and Free Speech Initiatives
Community Conversations Update
You all may remember a communication that went out earlier in the semester identifying a Campus Well-Being and Stewardship Group. As a reminder, the purpose of this group is to begin community conversations and reflections on the events of April. These reflections will involve broad information sharing of after-action reviews, conversations about lessons learned, and action planning for supporting future efforts.
The Stewardship Group has been meeting regularly and most recently sought feedback from the University Senate on December 3, 2024 and reported back on a tentative plan for campus engagement in the Spring 2025 semester during the December 17, 2024 meeting of the Senate yesterday. That tentative schedule is as follows:
- January 28, 2025—University Senate (Extended meeting): 2 – 5 p.m., Goodwin Forum (Hybrid)
- January 28, 2025—Athletics: 6:30 – 7:30 p.m., KA 102 (In-person)
- January 29, 2025—Staff Council: Noon – 1 p.m., Great Hall (Hybrid)
- February 4, 2025—Associated Students: 1:30 – 2:30 p.m., Location TBD (Hybrid)
- February 7, 2025—Campus Open forum: 11 a.m. – 1 p.m., Location TBD (Hybrid)
A campus communication will go out on January 21, 2025 to all employees and students sharing the schedule as well as more details with regard to the structure and scope of the meetings as well as additional campus companion activities designed to offer different ways to engage.
The membership in the group includes:
- Eduardo Cruz (formerly Wysdem Singleton)—Associated Students President
- Megan Janikowski—Student Athlete Advisory Committee President
- Jim Woglom—University Senate Chair
- Kathy Hudson—Staff Council Chair
- Jenn Capps—Administrative Representative
Free Speech Updates
Free Speech Support & Resource Team (FSSRT)
This fall, we have been working closely with faculty members—Julie Alderson, Joice Chang, John Meyer, Suzanne Pasztor—to form a Faculty/Staff Advisory Team that will work directly with the Free Speech Support & Resource Team (FSSRT). This advisory group will help leadership and the FSSRT shape policies, practices, and educational programming to support free expression and civil dialogue on campus.
Membership for the advisory team will be determined through a combination of an election and ex-officio appointments in January 2025.
Educational Programming Funds
Cal Poly Humboldt received $75,000 from the Chancellor's Office to support educational programming on campus that supports enhanced understanding of the TPM policy, civil discourse/collegiality, elections and voter engagement, and effective organizing. Some funds were set aside for a special grant program focused on civil discourse and engagement, which is currently open for applications. The administration of the system funds is being overseen by the Free Speech Support & Resource Team, with planned assistance from the advisory group.
About half of the funds have been expended (see Educational Programming page), with the remainder to be spent before the end of the fiscal year.
Jenn Capps
Provost & Vice President for Academic Affairs
Chrissy Holliday
Vice President for Enrollment Management & Student Affairs
Latest PMC All Campus
- Friendly Reminder: On-Campus Catering Services Through P2PWe would like to remind all departments that all on-campus catering services must be processed through CSUBUY P2P. Key Points to Remember All catering services (including Chartwells) must go through CSUBUY P2P. All catering requests must be submitted through the P2P system by using the Hospitality Form to initiate a requisition.
- EV charging on campusBeginning January 1, 2026, the university will implement a usage-based fee for all electric vehicle (EV) charging stations on campus. As the number of EV drivers in our community continues to grow, this change will help us support increased demand, maintain and upgrade charging infrastructure, and ensure fair access for all users. The new fee structure will also encourage responsible charging habits and reduce instances of vehicles occupying charging spaces longer than necessary.
- Social Justice Summit 2026 Proposals OpenThe Social Justice, Equity and Inclusion Center is now accepting submissions for the 32nd Annual Social Justice Summit happening on March 4-6, 2026. Students, staff, faculty, and community members are invited to submit workshop or discussion proposals that contribute to this year’s theme and to the broader purpose of the Summit. We welcome contributions from anyone who feels inspired to share their knowledge, creativity, or lived experiences.
- 2026 Minimum Wage IncreaseEffective January 1, 2026, the California minimum wage will increase to $16.90 per hour. As a result, hourly class range minimums will be raised to $16.90 per hour, and monthly class range minimums will be increased to at least $2,930 per month. The employees most affected by this change will be our hourly Student Workers (1860,1861), Casual Workers (1800), and hourly Special Consultants (4662).
- Parking Closures for CommencementCal Poly Humboldt is excited to host the Fall 2025 Commencement ceremony for the graduating class on Friday, December 19, 2025, in Lumberjack Arena. As part of the Commencement ceremony, certain parking areas will be closed: General lot behind the Student Recreation Center (G33) Faculty/staff lot by the Wildlife Care Center facility and Kinesiology & Athletics (FS51) Parking area at Kinesiology & Athletics (G50)
- Action Needed: Please Review Scholarship Materials for Outdated Academic Works LinksAs you know, last month we announced to campus that Academic Works was being replaced with Scholarship Manager as our campus scholarship application portal. All of the links in Financial Aid and other key areas have been updated to direct students to the new Scholarship Manager application portal and we can see healthy activity as applications are flowing into the new system daily.