Frequently Asked Questions

By integrating back-office administrative and transactional operations into a single, shared core, the Network seeks to enhance efficiency, reduce duplication, and optimize resource allocation, while maintaining each university’s unique identity, accreditation, and academic mission. This approach moves beyond traditional cost-reduction strategies, offering a forward-looking solution to the urgent fiscal and demographic challenges facing our institutions. The goal will be to improve operational function through collaboration across campuses. 

We strive to strengthen the individual viability of our three universities—ensuring continuous service to the extended communities in our shared geographic region, providing access to higher education, and preparing our local and regional workforce. In light of ongoing demographic and enrollment declines, we are creating a single effective and cost-efficient structure, the San Francisco Bay Region Network, to support long-term sustainability and student success. 

The Network is grounded in the following guiding principles:

1. Forming the Network is a fundamental step in ensuring that we align how we use our scarce resources to support student success. By increasing efficiency, reducing costs, and working collaboratively, we ensure that administrative and transactional services continue unimpeded despite funding challenges and prioritize resources for our critical teaching and learning missions. .

2. The Network will challenge the status quo and long-held traditions that are impediments to change and work with a sense of urgency.

3. The Network will focus first on administrative services but does not rule out a networked approach to some student services, library, or academic platforms and programs and encourages all manner of collaboration among the three universities.

4. The Network will streamline and standardize processes – consolidating where possible – and will utilize uniform technology systems and platforms.

5. The Network will ultimately increase administrative efficiencies for all three universities and will strive to improve the current level of service provided for our administrative functions.

6. Workforce reductions are a necessary component of achieving economies of scale. The Network will aim as much as possible to achieve workforce reductions via attrition, functional reassignments, and opportunities for professional growth.

7. Design and implementation decisions will be made in consultation with campus experts with the explicit goal of developing uniform practices across all three universities. Stakeholders will engage in identifying promising practices.

8. Design and implementation decisions will be based on data and national best practices.

9. The Network will communicate design and implementation decisions and project progress transparently and frequently.

10. These separately accredited universities must maintain their distinct characteristics, accreditation standards, and service to their surrounding communities during and after Network implementation.

These guiding principles were developed through discussions with the Network university presidents and other Network leadership. 

We understand how hard everyone across the three Network universities is working to support our students, run ongoing operations, and take on new initiatives. We engaged with Deloitte’s Higher Education practice to support the SFBRN initiative to serve as an objective third party to assist in the planning, design, and implementation activities while providing project management and change management strategies, structures, and practices. 

You may be contacted by Network leadership, the project team, or our Deloitte partners for input via a virtual meeting, in person meeting, email, or survey. It is critical to our team that we use quantitative and qualitative information, including the expertise of existing staff within the universities today, to ensure the success of the project. If you have questions, feedback, or collaboration ideas, we would love to hear from you. Please reach out to the Network project team by emailing us at info@sfbrn.calstate.edu.

You can stay up to date about the Network through this website, which will be updated with key milestone updates and answers to frequently asked questions. If you would like to learn more, or submit questions or feedback, please reach out to the SFBRN project team by filling out this anonymous survey.

The Network university presidents identified Information Technology, Human Resources, Procurement, and Accounts Payable as functions that presented opportunities to achieve the Network’s vision to enhance efficiency, reduce duplication, and optimize resource allocation. Subsets of these functions will be integrated into the Network by January 2026. 

It is important to note that additional functions will also be integrated into the Network in the future as the initiative continues. 

Subsets of Information Technology, Human Resources, Procurement, and Accounts Payable functions will be integrated into the Network by January 2026. It is important to note that additional functions will also be integrated into the Network in the future as the initiative continues. 

All Network staff will retain their current locus of employment with their respective university. Network staff will retain their current conditions of employment. Independent from their employment, Network staff will report up through the Network leader.