Thank you, Chair Fong, and good afternoon Trustees, university Presidents, Chancellor Koester, and guests. My name is Krishan Malhotra and I serve as President of the Cal State Student Association.

CSSA represents the nearly half a million students in the CSU and serves as the official voice of CSU students to the California State Legislature and CSU Board of Trustees. It is an honor to provide this report on their behalf.

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday break, a happy new year, and a happy lunar new year. Before I begin my report, I want to offer my sincerest condolences to the loved ones of the victims of the Monterey Park and Half Moon Bay tragedies.  We stand in solidarity with those in our CSU community who have been affected.

In November, CSSA governing members had the opportunity to meet with Acting Vice Chancellor Leora Freedman. These meetings were in response to the minimal, or sometimes lack of, student engagement in the Cozen visits. I’d like to thank Acting Vice Chancellor Freedman for her willingness to meet with and hear out the concerns that our governing membership shared with her. And while the sentiments expressed were shared with Acting Vice Chancellor Freedman and the Cozen Assessment team, knowing that this is a Board of Trustees assessment, I wanted to share a few of them with you today as well. Students expressed:

• A need for more investments to support Title IX and DHR staff and outreach efforts,
• Clearly designated and visible Title IX offices that are accessible to students,
• A process to report anonymous Title IX and DHR incidents, and
• Developing processes for incidents that may not arise to a formal Title IX or DHR investigation issue but still inappropriate and not in alignment with our values as a system.

In addition to these concerns, what was very evident in these meetings is that students worry that while these assessments are being conducted, no meaningful change will occur.

CSSA expresses our sincerest hope that campus and system assessments be made publicly available to the campus community. And that any implementation groups or task forces created as a result of these assessments have students included in them.

I also want to encourage my fellow students to complete the Cozen O’Connor assessment survey to ensure your voice is heard.

CSSA will be meeting this coming weekend at San Jose State for our first plenary of 2023. At our plenary, we are going to be engaging our governing members in conversations surrounding:

• Campus dining services including quality, affordability of, and how students can engage campus administrators in providing feedback about services provided,
• Reviewing the Student Participation in Policy Development Process,
• Discussing a number of legislative bills that will impact CSU students, and
• We are thrilled that the search firm for the Chancellor’s Search will be joining us to hear directly from our board on what qualities and attributes students wish to see in a Chancellor.

CSSA is in the final days of the application process to serve as the 2023-2025 Student Trustee. Applications close January 30th at 5:00 pm and more information on the application process can be found on our website at calstatestudents.org.

CSSA appreciates the opportunity to serve on a number of systemwide committees, task forces, and searches for our system. I’d like to highlight one of those committees and one of our appointees today – Two of our students have the unique opportunity to serve on the CSU Alumni Council Special Committee on Mentorship. They are able to offer their insights and perspectives on mentorship and the types of opportunities students will find beneficial in their academic journey as it relates to student and alumni engagement.  Rebecca Perez, a senior at Fresno State, majoring in Health Science is one of our appointees to this committee. Rebecca is a ten year US Air Force Veteran, Vice President of External Affairs at ASI, and a mother. Rebecca has shared that the community at the Fresno State Veterans Resource Center has provided her with advisors, friends, employment, and an opportunity to support her fellow student veterans. We look forward to the continued collaborative relationship with the many CSU partners on this committee and thank the Alumni Council for their leadership on this important student centered initiative.

Yesterday, I was honored to accept an award that CSSA, the Student Senate for California Community Colleges, and the University of California Student Association, and the broader Fix Financial Aid Coalition received from the Campaign for College Opportunity. The inaugural Partner Award for Exemplary Advocacy was given to the Coalition for our efforts with Cal Grant Reform, an advocacy campaign that we have led over the past 5 years. We are thrilled and grateful that Cal Grant Reform was included in the budget act and look forward to working with our Coalition partners to ensure this is a reality in the next fiscal year.

As the new legislative season is upon us and with nearly one third of the legislature being first time members, CSSA is looking forward to engaging with those members and their staff on the policy priorities of CSU students. We also look forward to collaborative and productive working relationship with new Associate Vice Chancellor of Advocacy and State Relations, Nathan Dietrich.

In the first week of March, CSU students will descend upon the State Capitol for our annual California Higher Education Student Summit, also known as CHESS. At this conference, we will advocate for CSSA sponsored and supported legislation. We look forward to this annual conference and empowering students to use their voice in advocating for student centered priorities.

Before I conclude my remarks, I’d like to share my appreciation that CSSA has two representatives on the  Search for the 9th Chancellor of the CSU. In this time of vast leadership transitions across our system, I hope that we all may continue to center the CSU’s largest stakeholder in the decisions we make, our students.

Thank you, Chair Fong that concludes my report.

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