The Lumberjack



Students Serving The Cal Poly Humboldt Campus and Community Since 1929

Tag: jason meriwether

  • Tension and Fear Among the Board of Directors

    Tension and Fear Among the Board of Directors

    A tense emergency Board of Directors reveals conflict between faculty and Administration.

    Tempers flared when an emergency Zoom meeting by the University Board of Directors turned into verbal arguments and accusations between several members on the call.

    The Aug. 28 meeting held by the University Center Board of Directors and open to the public originally set forth to tackle various agenda items and approve of new members.

    The two items that took up a majority of the meeting, however, where the firing of the UC’s legal counsel and changes the administration has made that affect facilities managed by the group.

    When the meeting was opened to public comment, student employees of the Humboldt Bay Aquatic Center stated that they were being asked by HSU to leave their offices. Center Activities Manager Bridget Hand confirmed this information, stating that employees were given little notice to clear their offices.

    Vice President of Enrollment Management Jason Meriwether and Acting Executive Director Todd Larson stated that the reason for departure was so that the building could prepare for renovations. Meriwether said that the space may be used for other departments in the meantime.

    Gracie Olivia, a student employee at HBAC, said that the job offered leadership roles and was a vital part of the community.

    “I want the board and everyone attending this meeting to understand the importance of the Center,” said Olivia.

    “Why are wholesale changes being made before the program review? The loss of HBAC as a public facility is a real loss to the community.”

    Financial Officer Gregg Foster

    With no office to operate out of, both Olivia and Hand noted that they would not be able to offer equipment rentals.

    Faculty Representative Steve Martin and Financial Officer Gregg Foster expressed confusion and anger at the circumstances. According to them, the UC board was uninformed of the entire situation.

    “Why are wholesale changes being made before the program review?” said Foster in the Zoom chat. “The loss of HBAC as a public facility is a real loss to the community.”

    In an email, Martin continued to express his frustration at the situation.

    “I’m concerned that employees of HBAC say that they can’t provide services to students safely and effectively because of the changes that were implemented over the summer, said Martin. “Changes that were implemented without first consulting the University Center Board.”

    Meriwether expressed his surprise with the board, stating that proper written notice was provided to former UC Executive Director Dave Nakamura. Martin said during the call that Nakamura was fired by the administration before being able to properly brief the UC Board.

    Further complicating the matter was the lack of legal representation for the UC Board regarding these actions, as the attorney for the group had been let go by Larson.

    The attorney from Erikson Law Firm, which had represented the UC Board of Directors since 2017, had refused to help draft a proposal with Larson to present to the Board. Larson also said the attorney had also violated a written contract agreed upon by the two, which to Larson “raised some red flags.”

    Foster, Martin and other members of the Board said that this was a decision that should have been run solely by the Board itself.

    Martin said that even if the action was legal, it raised moral and ethical flags about Larson and his actions put the board in a state of unease.

    These actions have created a fear among faculty members outside the board as well, that discouraged faculty members from speaking up.

    “Like everyone else in my position, we fear retaliation from an administration that is overreaching and abusing their power,” said one source close to the situation, who wished to remain anonymous. “If you are receiving PC responses from others, it’s because we are all very worried about what we are witnessing. We have been given specific language to use when speaking with the media and that language only reflects that of the administration’s story.”

    The next UC Board meeting is scheduled for Sept. 10.

  • Letter to the Editor: HSU Did Not Violate California Law

    Letter to the Editor: HSU Did Not Violate California Law

    A letter from HSU’s vice president of Enrollment Management

    A letter from Humboldt State University Vice President of Enrollment Management Jason Meriwether follows:

    Wednesday, April 22, 2020

    James Wilde, Editor & Reporter
    Grace Caswell, Editor & Reporter
    The Lumberjack Newspaper
    Humboldt State University 

    Dear James and Grace,

    Please accept this letter (also enclosed) in response to the Lumberjack Article titled, Humboldt State Violated California Law by Requiring Registration for a Public Meeting, which was published on April 16, 2020.  

    While you were copied on a series of emails to me, and thus, on my responses, there are still a few important facts that I believe you will find useful in the wake of the April 16thstory.  Since my email was the source of the quotes by me in the article, I never had an opportunity to answer a couple of fundamental questions as you prepared for your story.  As such, I ask you to please consider the following:

    The University did not violate California Law.  

    When I received the original email, which copied numerous parties, Vice President Dawes and I took immediate action to verify that HSU was not in violation of the law.  This included going into consultation with other university stakeholders, including legal counsel.  This consultation reassured us that no violation of policy or law was taking place.  

    In particular, I urge you to please review the actual requirements of the Bagley-Keene Act.  First, please review a guidance document provided by the State’s Attorney General which outlines the scope of Bagley-Keene.  Most pertinent to this issue, the Bagley-Keene requirements at issue apply only to meetings of a statutorily defined “state body” (Section 11121) that do not apply to the informal meetings hosted by VP Dawes and me.  As explained in Section 11121 and in the guide from the State’s Attorney General, the sessions that were hosted do not fall within the scope of Bagley-Keene, which, based on guidance from legal counsel, means this law does not apply and was not broken.  

    With respect to the Brown Act, which was also referred to in the series of emails and in your article, this statute applies to local government agencies and essentially stands as a counterpart to Bagley-Keene, so to speak.  The California State University, in particular Humboldt State, is a state agency, which does not fall under the Brown Act.  Because Humboldt State, as a part of the CSU, is not subject to the Brown Act, legal counsel has advised us that the law was not broken.  

    Why did we add a public link to the originally scheduled presentations?

    We did so to eliminate any perceived barriers to participation.  As quoted in the story from one of my emails, “the entire point of the meetings was to be transparent.”  

    While we were fully aware that we were compliant with the law and that no persons were being barred from the meeting, the very notion that we were trying to keep people out, even though it was false and based on an incorrect interpretation of the law, compelled us to add an extra way to view the meeting.  In our perspective, if any person felt uncomfortable or interpreted the registration function as a barrier, then adding the extra link made sense.   In total, over 300 members of the university, media, and local community attended both meetings, and not a single person was excluded.  The zoom webinar function was not sought out as a barrier, but as the best way to allow so many people to receive the information at hand.  Registration for this meeting was not like a conference presentation or an event with limited access or hidden behind a paid wall.  Many instructors and students are using zoom for class and the majority, if not all, meetings and presentations are held over zoom.  We sent the information out to the entire campus, it was posted on the public events website, and we did not deny access to anyone.  Simply stated, because we could not have a meeting in the Great Hall or KBR, a zoom meeting appeared to be the best option to make sure that this important information was shared with the campus.   

    To be candid, the public webinars were not an attempt at secrecy.  Any notion to the contrary is simply false.  In our belief, these sessions were about being honest with the campus and sharing data that impacts everyone.  Making the report and data available online and readily sharing it with the media, students, faculty, and all interested parties was also necessary.  Personally, I can assure you that it would have been easier to not conduct public presentations about such a negative set of projections, but in fact, the public presentations were the right thing to do.   

    The first person to receive a copy of my report was a journalist from the Lumberjack who received the report even before my first public presentation to the University Senate.  The Senate presentation was also via zoom and on the same day I met with the student journalist.  This information has been presented to Associated Students, the University Senate, the University Planning and Resource Committee, and in two public meetings.  The report has also been cited by the media and directly provided to reporters who requested it.  These actions do not align with any intention to violate the law or fail in transparency.  

    In conclusion, I am committed to the voice of students through journalism, which I believe has been demonstrated during my first year at Humboldt State.  That commitment will not change.  To that end, my commitment to providing facts, information, and access to student journalists has also been demonstrated.  Accordingly, I ask that you please review the information and facts above and please weigh against the information that was provided to you and the information that was published in the article.   

    Thank you for your consideration.  

    Sincerely Yours,

    Dr. Jason L. Meriwether

    Vice President of Enrollment Management

    Humboldt State University

    Ralph M. Brown Act
    https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displayText.xhtml?lawCode=GOV&division=2.&title=5.&part=1.&chapter=9. 

    Bagley-Keene Act’s Section 11121 https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displayText.xhtml?lawCode=GOV&division=3.&title=2.&part=1.&chapter=1.&article=9.

    Attorney General’s Bagley-Keene Act Fact Sheet

    https://oag.ca.gov/sites/all/files/agweb/pdfs/publications/bagleykeene2004_ada.pdf

  • With Future Unknown Amid Pandemic, HSU Plans for Enrollment Drops and Budget Cuts

    With Future Unknown Amid Pandemic, HSU Plans for Enrollment Drops and Budget Cuts

    HSU, like all colleges, prepares for tough times and serious measures

    Humboldt State University is preparing for an enrollment drop of around 20% for the fall and a budget cut of around $20 million by the 2022 fiscal year, according to a joint press release from HSU and College of the Redwoods.

    Before the COVID-19 pandemic, HSU projected an enrollment drop for total students of around 14% for the fall and had proposed a budget cut of around $5.4 million by the 2022 fiscal year. 

    Given the uncertainty of the next year, HSU is planning for an even larger enrollment decline and budget cut. HSU currently projects new student enrollment to drop by 30%. The specifics of what the budget cuts will mean are still being worked out.

    “Many options are being looked at, including combinations of a hiring chill, spending freeze, operational changes, incentives for retirements, travel reductions, and more,” the press release said.

    In a Zoom interview, HSU Vice President of Enrollment Management Jason Meriwether said a worst case scenario projection might be only 500 new students and 500 transfer students admitted to HSU in the fall. 

    These numbers, to be clear, are projections. No one knows exactly how the next year will play out. Meriwether hoped HSU could keep enrollment and retention as high as possible.

    “The sad part is, I don’t know,” Meriwether said. “There’s no benchmark. There’s nothing to project against. We could be doing all this and, you know, 1400 students show up—which would be wonderful.”

    HSU is not alone. As noted in Meriwether’s Tuesday enrollment management report to the HSU Senate, colleges everywhere are facing enrollment drops amid the pandemic. The report cited articles from Forbes and the Associated Press along with some early data suggesting one out of every six college-bound students won’t attend college in the fall.

    With education expected to shift to a more local focus, Meriwether pointed out that HSU already shifted to local recruitment in the last year with measures like the Humboldt First Scholarship.

    Compared to an average of about 32 local students attending HSU per year in the last three years, HSU currently has 208 local students confirmed to attend HSU in the fall with the Humboldt First Scholarship. 

    “The good news is we’re not starting local recruitment today because there’s a problem,” Meriwether said. “That’s the best part of all this—is that we already have a really solid foundation that we built in the community over the last eight or nine months.” 

    The enrollment management report includes a graph of enrollment scenarios, with red lines for lower enrollment scenarios and a blue line for a growth scenario. Meriwether hoped for HSU to remain close to the blue line.

    “Essentially, pray we get as close to the blue line as possible,” he said. 

    Meriwether pointed out that, since COVID-19 has hit everywhere, current students might not have much reason to transfer. If classes are still online in the fall at HSU, they will presumably be online everywhere. 

    “Let’s say a student says, ‘OK, well, you know, I want to transfer because I didn’t want this experience,’” he said. “OK. Well, the question will be, ‘What school are you going to transfer to?’ Because every school is stuck in this scenario right now.”

    Nevertheless, the pandemic will likely temporarily derail HSU’s efforts to improve enrollment. 

    “Long term, you know, prior to COVID-19, prior to this hit, we had a plan of getting to an FTE of 7600 students [full-time students] in about four years,” he said. “So now, what if the COVID-19 environment says, well, gosh, it can make us take eight years to get there.”

    Meriwether was optimistic that eventually, HSU would get through this.

    “I believe that we will bounce back, and I believe we will bounce back strong if the hit is really bad,” he said. “This is a marathon. Enrollment is a marathon.”

  • Retention Rate on the Rise at HSU

    Retention Rate on the Rise at HSU

    More Humboldt State students are electing to stick around, but there’s still work to be done

    Corrections: a previous version of this story incorrectly quoted Casey Park as saying “We’re absent as an institution.” The quote should have said “We were absent as an institution.” The story also wrongly included “interim” in Jason Meriwether’s title.

    Humboldt State revealed more students were staying on its campus rather than taking off for other schools or ventures in a Jan. 31 press release.

    Tracy Smith, the director of the HSU Retention through Academic Mentoring Program, said she was proud of the work she and her peer mentors have accomplished over the years.

    “I think Humboldt sincerely believes that whether students decide to stay at Humboldt or not is really a product of our entire campus community and off-campus community,” Smith said. “RAMP really is designed to support incoming students and them finding a place where they feel a connection.”

    “85 percent of new first-year students said if they were given the option to choose a college again, they ‘probably’ or ‘definitely’ would attend HSU again.”

    National Survey of Student Engagement, spring 2019

    A study done in conjunction with HSU by the National Survey of Student Engagement in spring 2019 provided some data on student perceptions of HSU.

    “85 percent of new first-year students said if they were given the option to choose a college again, they ‘probably’ or ‘definitely’ would attend HSU again,” the study said. “And 89 percent of first-year students said their overall experience was ‘good’ or ‘excellent’, compared to an overall CSU system rate of 84 percent.”

    Jason Meriwether, Ph.D., vice president for Enrollment Management, said a few things have contributed to the increased retention rates, including Enrollment Management staff and related faculty streamlining the registration process and connecting students with support services—all in an attempt to create a sense of belonging for students.

    “It’s the experience but it’s also the listening and packaging it into one,” Meriwether said. “So, all of that is about looking at the students and giving them what they’re asking for first, and using the resources that we have to create an experience for the student.”

    Meriwether said his staff’s hard work has paid off by meeting student needs.

    “We have to be aligned with what students are expressing that they need and putting ourselves in a position to support students,” Meriwether said.

    “There wasn’t attention given to the most affected and traumatized students. And those are the students who went back to where we recruit from and said ‘Humboldt is not a place for me,’ and ‘Humboldt is not a place for you.’”

    Casey Park, HSU alumna

    He noted a growing trend at HSU of transfer students outnumbering first-time freshmen. HSU has needed to move around campus resources to accommodate the influx of transfer students.

    “It’s about being nimble and seeing where the student population is going and meeting those needs,” Meriwether said.

    Meriwether added that in recent months, the Student Disability Resource Center and cultural centers have received major face-lifts, which, in turn, have opened up more doors for students.

    Casey Park, an HSU alumna, was glad for the rising number of retained students, but said the campus administration’s past actions around retention shouldn’t be ignored as a new wave of measures are enacted. Park is an Associated Students coordinator, but gave her perspective only as an alumna.

    “We are still going to need to reconcile the years where we were neglectful of students,” Park said. “It’s going to take a lot of really good decisions to hold ourselves accountable for that and kind of be like, ‘We were absent as an institution.’”

    Park said the HSU administration’s inaction regarding the Josiah Lawson case and other events affected previous student perceptions of HSU.

    “There wasn’t attention given to the most affected and traumatized students,” Park said. “And those are the students who went back to where we recruit from and said ‘Humboldt is not a place for me,’ and ‘Humboldt is not a place for you.’”