'Olympian Technology'

• October 30, 2009

• By President Mohammad H. Qayoumi

The formidable economic challenges we face today continue to reveal the character of our university family as one of integrity and determination to fulfill a mission dedicated to community service and regional stewardship.

Marilyn King’s address at our fall convocation for freshmen and their parents was a good introduction to Pioneer spirit and fortitude. King ’73 is a three-time U.S. Olympic pentathlete, a Cal State East Bay graduate and a member of our Hall of Fame, and an international business consultant and speaker.

She is known for developing the concept of “Olympian Technology,” the discovery of three elements always present when ordinary people do extraordinary things: passion, vision and action.

Of course, her field of study goes into greater depth, but it struck me that her message of encouragement to these new students, members of the largest freshman class in our history, also applied to those of us who have made service to Cal State East Bay our careers. I was reminded how profoundly our positive thinking affects our health, our performance and our futures. The passion, vision and action of all of us in service to this university has truly yielded exceptional results. 

As Ms. King said, “success-oriented individuals are self-defined, self-directed and capable of far surpassing previous levels of accomplishment.”

And that is where we find Cal State East Bay today: self-defined and accepted nationally as a regional, urban-serving university where faculty and staff have come together to meet our commitment to the Bay Area and beyond. Each of us becomes engaged in this effort by identifying where our jobs intersect with the university’s strategic goals for the region’s economic vibrancy, development of the workforce, and enabling healthy communities.

Recently, we have become extraordinarily focused on the centrality of regional stewardship, a key element of the seven mandates in our strategic plan. We are distinguished by a unique way of connecting what might be seen as traditional higher education values, such as academic quality and student success, to a regional context.

In this role as a regional steward, we are constantly seeking partnerships with even more organizations and agencies. To highlight two of the many initiatives currently underway:

Gateways Cradle to Career Education and Workforce Partnership
Representatives of more than a dozen public and private entities met with us recently to begin work creating a nationwide “Living Cities” demonstration site at Cal State East Bay to support educational systems to improve student achievement and economic development.
 
The East Bay Green Corridor Partnership
Cal State East Bay has joined UC Berkeley, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, two community college districts, and eight cities in this collaborative. We will work to create a thriving region of green technology innovation, commercialization, and local economic development in a manner that creates high quality jobs and addresses environmental and social concerns.

As part of our mission, we have a responsibility to address the relevance and preparation of our campuses to meet current needs and for future generations. Soon, you will hear details of some exciting developments in our first university-wide comprehensive fundraising campaign regarding donors and some impressive levels of commitment.

The campaign is infused with the spirit of regional stewardship, with an emphasis on career preparation in an interdisciplinary curriculum, developing the next generation of K-12 teachers, and working with school districts and community colleges and numerous private partners to build a robust school-to-career pipeline. A major element of this effort is concentrated in the fields of science, technology, engineering and math. We must assure that students in all majors graduate with a level of general proficiency in these disciplines to prepare them to be informed, responsible citizens.

We have the great good fortune to be assisted in the campaign by strong guidance from the Cal State East Bay Educational Foundation, a group of supporters devoted to the principles I have described here.

As we continue to move the university in exciting new directions, it has become apparent to me that those who are joining us – whether they know it or not - seem to be drawing on that concept of “Olympian Technology.” They want to be a part of our own passion, vision and action, and we welcome them as our partners as we work toward building an extraordinary future for Cal State East Bay.

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