11/14/94
CONTACT: Stanford University News Service (650) 723-2558
STANFORD -- Cecilia Burciaga, former associate dean and development officer for student resources, has been appointed to the founding team for the new California State University at Monterey Bay. Initially, she is serving as associate dean in academic affairs and as university registrar.
Located on 1,300 acres of the old Fort Ord army base, the new California State campus is scheduled to open in September 1995 with 800 to 1,000 undergraduates and master's students.
A vision statement for the new school says that the campus will be distinctive “in serving the diverse people of California, especially the working class and historically under- educated and low-income populations.” Its identity will be “framed by substantive commitment to a multilingual, multicultural, intellectual community distinguished by partnerships with existing institutions, both public and private.”
Monterey Bay will offer undergraduate degrees in areas such as environmental studies, fine and creative arts, interdisciplinary studies and language studies, and master's degrees in business, marine sciences and interdisciplinary studies. In addition, it will emphasize professional teacher preparation programs.
The university aims to produce “a lot of talented elementary and secondary teachers for the state of California,” Burciaga said. Another goal is to have students graduate with a second language.
Burciaga said that she and other team members are “committed to building a new student-centered learning environment, rich in diversity. Our vision is very clear about this.”
Among her tasks, Burciaga is helping to review 3,000 applications for faculty positions and helping develop a residential learning program. About 80 percent of students will live on campus in a mix of student residences and in two- and three-bedroom townhouses built for the military during the Reagan administration.
Burciaga commutes to Menlo Park on weekends to be with her family. She also continues to commute bimonthly to Washington, D.C., where she serves on President Clinton's Advisory Commission on Educational Excellence for Hispanic Americans.
A 20-year employee of Stanford, Burciaga was Stanford's highest-ranking Latina administrator when her position was eliminated last spring, an action that drew protests from students, faculty and staff.
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