Business owners looking for new hires might want to keep on eye on Meristem. Twenty minutes east of Sacramento, the new school opened in September with a mission to help young adults with ASD or other developmental differences find jobs. Developed in the U.K., this postsecondary transition program uses practical courses to teach transferable work skills such as problem-solving, teamwork and communication.

Before coming to Sacramento, Nelsen was instrumental in turning around the struggling University of Texas Pan-American — growing enrollment, raising revenue and boosting the university’s role in the community. We sat down with him recently to discuss his vision for California’s only true capital university.

Sacramento State has long been known as a campus rich in cultural diversity. According to the U.S. News & World Report, it is the 15th most diverse campus in the west, while Collegefactual.com ranks it 24th in the nation. Robert Nelsen, Sac State’s new president, says that diversity is precisely why he came to the university.

California’s $184-billion pension fund for school teachers chided Volkswagen AG for rigging some diesel engines to cheat on U.S. emission tests and said it is evaluating its exposure to losses from the scandal.

Students representing the university’s 10 campuses have protested and collected petitions urging the school to divest from fossil fuels that include coal and oil sands, a mix of sand, clay, water and a heavy oil called bitumen. Fossil Free UC, a coalition of students, faculty, staff and alumni has asked the university to adopt a five-year plan to freeze new fossil fuel investments.

A nursing shortage has been looming like a storm cloud, warning the country’s health care industry of impending change. The health care and education industries prepared for it by training novice graduates, advocating for advanced degrees and expanding the roles of nurses. The question now is whether the newbies will be ready in time.

Given the importance of a degree or certificate from a publicly supported California college — a community college, a California State University or the University of California — some taxpayers may ask why California colleges should serve any student who isn’t a state resident.

In the next decade, as senior nurses leave the field, a new generation will take their place. The transition won’t be easy, as registered nurses fresh out of school must meet the massive demand of baby boomers and newly insured patients. But UC Davis Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing alumna Nicole Smith believes new nurses can transform the health care industry by disrupting the status quo.

Steven Currall is the Chancellor’s Senior Advisor for Strategic Projects and Initiatives and a management professor at UC Davis, where he is leading campus-wide deliberations about the vision for the university’s long-term future.