But while many at the university said they felt welcomed upon their arrival at the Hayward campus, some described its physical environment as less than inviting.

In March, the university surveyed 2,197 students (17.5 percent of the student population), 359 staff members and 300 full- and part-time faculty. The topics ranged from instruction and course offerings to cultural and racial sensitivity and working environment.

"We will be looking at this for years," said Don Sawyer, President Mo Qayoumi's new chief of staff.

Sawyer, a longtime professor of kinesiology, said he was heartened by the students'

responses about the faculty. About 90 percent said they had learned "a great deal" in courses related to their major, and 89 percent said they felt most faculty are well-prepared.

But the responses on the campus's physical aspect also caught Sawyer's attention. Only 21 percent of faculty and 45 percent of staff indicated that the buildings in which they work are adequately cleaned, although nearly two-thirds of the students did. The bathrooms received a similarly low grade.

Sawyer said cuts in grounds and custodial staff were made in lean budget times as a way to protect the instruction and course offerings. But, he said, Qayoumi was eager to address the physical condition of the campus.

Joseph Corica, president of the local chapter of the CSU Employees Union, said he wouldn't be surprised if many of the maintenance workers were too busy to take the survey. Some have told him they had to clean two or three buildingsduring an eight-hour shift, he said, adding that he filed a grievance last fall about the problem.

"I had people telling me they had pests, they had rodents in their areas," Corica said.

For a university struggling to boost its enrollment, Corica said, a clean and attractive campus is critical. After the number of CSUEB students dropped last year, he recalled thinking, "Do you think it has anything to do with the campus looking like a pig sty when they come to visit with their parents?"

The university community will have a chance to view the survey results and vet their ideas when classes resume later this month for the fall quarter. In October and early November, groups of students, faculty and staff will meet to determine -- and better understand -- the most critical issues relating to the campus environment, Sawyer said. A "strategic plan" will follow.

Corica said he hopes the process will lead to improvements in the management and staffing of maintenance workers, among other changes. "This campus has so much potential," he said.

The CSUEB Campus Climate Survey was developed by the Institutional Research & Assessment department as part of the university's regular accreditation process. The results can be found online at http://www.csueastbay.edu/ira/surveys/campusclimate/06/index.htm.