Over 100 natural science students and allied community members clashed with Provost Leslie Cornick in Selvesters before the final expo of phase two, round one, in the reimagining of academic affairs initiative to hash out the future of natural sciences and voice their frustrations about the perceived lack of transparency. 

The meeting began with chaotic chatter, both students and Cornick fighting for control over the packed room. Cornick put it to a vote on whether to continue with the planned format of the meeting or to switch to a Q&A format, which was almost unanimously agreed upon. 

Opening the Q&A, a student stated that Cornick had not done enough to notify the campus about these changes and expos. When Cornick asked the room to raise their hands if they had heard about the event, only three raised their hands. 

Early in the meeting, a graduate student who participated in the session took the floor and spoke directly to the gathered students urging them to listen and not react, or else the dialogue would not be productive. This set the tone for the rest of the meeting. 

Cornick assured students that the reimagining of Academic Affairs would be organizational changes only, emphasizing majors and departments would not be cut. She stated that the intention with the reimagining is to make it easier for students to access research and share resources across departments. 

Frustrated students voiced fears about what happened at Sonoma State –  massive cuts to the University, including academic degrees and sports – is happening at Chico State. Cornick emphasized that their reserves, which amounted to “two years worth” kept them far enough away from making dramatic cuts to the university at large. 

Many students took umbrage with the fact that the word science did not appear in any of the reimagined colleges models, and feared that the lack of representation in the title would lead to the erasure of Chico State’s science programs as a whole, or difficulties in students applying for graduate school. 

Cornick reassured students that in future revisions of the models the word science would appear. This however, didn’t seem to give students the consolation they were looking for, as it kept coming up as a point of contention.

Cornick ensured students that none of the models to restructure academic affairs had been chosen yet and that was the value of seeking student feedback. She shared that they are seeking to increase interdisciplinary activity between departments and promote the goal of bringing together natural sciences and agriculture.

Students accused Cornick for her lack of transparency and openness which has resulted in inadequate information and fears of what is to come for their majors, departments and professors.

To address transparency concerns, they are also updating the reimagining academic affairs website to add important context that was previously missing.

Concluding round one of Phase Two, Cornick will take the community feedback and refine the models down to two, assuring concerned students that sciences would be updated to reflect their concerns.

Cornick plans to send out more emails to inform the campus community of the progress they’re making on the reimagining of academic affairs. 

Chris Hutton and Nadia Hill can be reached at orionmanagingeditor@gmail.com