作者：辛西娅·休伯特

2022年2月8日

萨克拉门托 State President Robert S. Nelsen’s influence extends far beyond the University’s leafy campus.

在他的领导下，Sac州立大学显著提高了学生的成功，并制定了对校园社区产生影响的项目和政策，更重要的是，对萨克拉门托地区及其他地区产生了影响。

由于尼尔森的领导能力及其成果，萨克拉门托大都会商会（萨克拉门托 Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce）将尼尔森评为2021年萨克拉门托年度人物。 他和其他有影响力的社区领袖将于2月11日在萨克拉门托市中心的凯悦酒店举行的正式活动中获得荣誉。

• 在春季演讲中，尼尔森校长呼吁治愈创伤，并继续朝着毕业、平等的目标前进

“He elevates the role that students play in driving regional success,” said Amanda Blackwood, the chamber’s president and CEO.

“He inspires students to not only study here, but also (to) become a part of our highly skilled workforce; 留在我们的地区，组建家庭，开始自己的事业。 简而言之，尼尔森博士揭示了一个事实，即萨克拉门托梦可以存在于我们所有人身上； that in our region, anything is possible.”

Previous Sacramentan of the Year honorees include former 萨克州立大学校长唐纳德·格特说, restauranteurs and public policy advocates Patrick and Bobbin Mulvaney, former Mayor Kevin Johnson, and 商人和慈善家戴尔·卡尔森, who along with his wife, Katy, are namesakes of the Carlsen Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship at 囊状态.

“He inspires students to not only study here, but also (to) become a part of our highly skilled workforce; 留在我们的地区，组建家庭，开始自己的事业。 简而言之，尼尔森博士揭示了一个事实，即萨克拉门托梦可以存在于我们所有人身上； that in our region, anything is possible.” ——萨克拉门托地铁商会主席兼首席执行官阿曼达·布莱克伍德

Nelsen, who became 囊状态’s eighth president in 2015, is reluctant to take credit for the University’s achievements. 他坚持认为，他的管理人员、教职员工和学生都应该得到认可，因为他们推动了校园的发展，尤其是在COVID-19大流行期间。

“It’s all about teamwork,” he said.

Nelsen and his team have made notable strides toward extending 囊状态’s reach and influence in the region.

Among the University’s greatest accomplishments, he said, is its drive to help students graduate in a timely manner, lowering their debt and allowing them to enter the workforce and support themselves and their families.

自2016年萨克州立大学启动“四年内完成”活动以来，四年内毕业的学生人数从8.8%跃升至26%。 为了支持这一增长，哈佛大学增加了数千门毕业所需的高要求课程，并建立了一个战略调度系统，以确保学生在需要的时候上他们需要的课程。

“For so long, graduation rates were very low because the expectations were not there,” Nelsen said. “We as a University have raised expectations for our students, because we believe in them. And they are responding.”

囊状态 expects to shatter CSU’s goal of 30 percent of its students graduating in four years by 2025.

“But I won’t be satisfied with that,” Nelsen said. “We can do much better.”

他说，在其他优先事项中，大学正在朝着成为一个包容和欢迎所有人的校园迈进。 Its comprehensive 反种族主义和包容性校园计划 addresses hiring and retention practices, curriculum development, bias reporting, and many other topics that will guide 囊状态 in its efforts to become an antiracist institution, Nelsen said. The Feb. 14 Antiracism and Inclusive Convocation, “A CALL TO ACTION: Eradicate, Resolve, and Educate,” is a direct effort to implement the plan.

“We have a diverse population of students who come from so many different backgrounds,” he said. “We want to create a University where they all feel they belong.”

He hopes 囊状态’s efforts will have a ripple effect across the region.

囊状态’s Ernest E Tschannen Science Complex, which includes a popular planetarium; 最近在足球和其他体育项目上的成功； 尼尔森说，继续努力帮助学生克服经济困难是另一个值得骄傲的地方。

Perhaps Nelsen’s leadership never has been more evident than during the past two years, when the COVID-19 pandemic forced the campus to disperse and its community to work and study from home. 在2022年春季学期开始的面对面课程推迟了两周后，教职员工和学生于2月7日正式返回校园。

“I was alone in this building on many days,” he said from his office, referring to the earlier stages of the pandemic, adding that he received special permission from the CSU chancellor to remain on campus.

The pandemic tested the University in “ways we never could have imagined,” Nelsen said.

尼尔森和他的COVID-19团队成员定期会面，讨论继续为学生提供优质教育的策略，其中许多人需要空间、技术和资金来留在大学。 这个团队面临着巨大的障碍。

“Yes, we had some low points. But I believed in 囊状态,” Nelsen said.

这种信念显然延伸到了追求高等教育的学生身上； 囊状态’s enrollment has held steady throughout the past two years.

Nelsen is grateful – and humble – about being named 2021 Sacramentan of the Year.

“You don’t do this job for accolades,” he said. “You lead with your heart. You do it because you love it.”

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