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Dear Cal State East Bay community,

As I shared with you in March, SFSU President Mahoney, Sonoma State Interim President Cutrer, and I will present an item outlining the next steps in creating the San Francisco Bay Region Network (SFBRN) at the May Board of Trustees meeting. The information item was posted on the CSU Board of Trustees website last night.

The , beginning on page 27, outlines the rationale for creating a single effective and cost-efficient organization of administration and finance functions and describes a timeline for the first four functional operations (human resources, procurement, financial aid, and IT help desk, IT project management, and IT applications support) to be completed by January 2026. In addition, we name all three presidents as equal executive sponsors and name SFSU Chief Financial Officer, Jeff Wilson, as our project lead.  

We expect the creation of the Network to achieve significant administrative cost savings and preserve services that would otherwise be damaged by budget cuts and associated cost-savings measures.  We presidents will ensure strict compliance with all existing policy, regulations and collective bargaining agreements. Many operational functions will remain campus-based, including, for example, many student support services and academic senates. Design and implementation decisions will be made in consultation with campus experts and stakeholders with the explicit goal of developing uniform practices across all three universities based on data and national best practices.

Separately, and prior to the creation of the SFBRN, the CSU system has launched the Multi-University Collaboration Initiative. This broader systemwide effort aims to reduce or avoid costs and streamline and simplify processes. The Multi-university initiative is currently focused on benefits administration, information security, and procurement-to-payment. The SFBRN will be able to incorporate these systemwide initiatives into the new regional administrative structure.  

The San Francisco Bay Region University Network is a bold, creative, proactive and necessary strategy to address the economic and demographic realities we face. Importantly, the aim of the Network is to ensure Cal State East Bay, San Francisco State and Sonoma State maintain their distinct characteristics and strengths, separate accreditation, and service to our distinct communities. SFBRN has great promise to serve as a collaborative model – for other regional networks within the CSU, as well as for challenged regional public universities throughout the nation.

SFBRN project lead, Jeff Wilson, will convene a communication team over the summer whose initial goal will be to develop a website to ensure stakeholders at all three campuses will have synchronous access to information. I also personally commit to providing ongoing communication and information as this new network evolves.

Please take a look at the Board materials and log into the live feed to see our presentation to the Board at their meeting later this month. All of this is open to the public.

As always, thanks for your commitment and engagement.

Sincerely yours,

Cathy Sandeen
President


May 7, 2025