President Corrigan's budget message to faculty and staff: January 29, 2008
Dear Colleagues:
California's budget troubles continue to be major news,
but the stories you have read may have left you still wondering about what
this all means for SF State.
First, about the current year.
Undoubtedly you know that the Governor has declared a fiscal emergency and the legislature is meeting in special session to decide how to handle this year's projected State deficit of $3.3 billion and start to address the $14.5 billion deficit that looms for 2008-09.
The good news is that as things stand, the California State University and the University of California are exempted from the 10 percent mid-year budget cut the Governor has imposed on other state agencies and the community colleges for 2007-08. The legislature could decide to include us, but we are reasonably optimistic that this year's budget will remain intact.
Campus enrollment is strong and we have gone forward with our spring class schedule as planned. We are offering 3670 sections -- 21 more than last spring.
Please help us carry the message to students -- especially
those who are close to graduation -- that they would be well advised to take
as full a class schedule as they can manage this spring and summer. We know
that classes are available now, but we cannot predict what next year's budget
will be and whether it will force us to cut back on sections. The spring
2008 regular add deadline is Friday, February 8.
Now about 2008-09:
As you
have read, the Governor's proposed budget for fiscal 2008-09 reduces the
requested budget submitted last fall by the CSU Board of Trustees by a total
of $386 million. This includes a reduction of $313 million in State General
Funds as well as the deletion of $73.2 million requested to "buy out," or
replace, what would otherwise be a 10% student fee increase.
The Governor's
budget fails to provide funds for enrollment growth of some 10,000 students,
$36 million in mandatory costs, plus employee health benefits and funding
for negotiated faculty and staff compensation.
SF State's share of the
$313 million CSU General Fund reduction would be approximately $20 million.
To put this in perspective, SF State's General Fund budget for the current
year is approximately $172 million. A reduction of this magnitude would
make it impossible for us to maintain the quality of the academic program
and meet our obligations to faculty, staff, and students, and would radically
reshape our university.
Chancellor Reed told the Board of Trustees last week
that he was not proposing a 2008-09 student fee increase. Instead, he urged
all of us -- Trustees, students, faculty, staff, parents -- to make the case
to the legislature and Governor for funding the full CSU Trustee budget request,
including the "buy out" of the proposed 10% fee increase.
The
fee issue is a major dilemma. I do not support an increase in the State
University Fee at this time and will continue to urge the Governor to honor
the "buy out" -- which would generate about $5 million for this
campus -- as he and his predecessors have in the past. I do not know a single
member of our Board of Trustees who favors a fee increase but I also recognize
how seriously they take the issues of access and academic quality and will
press hard for the restoration of the full $386 million that is lost with
the Governor's budget.
At last week's Board of Trustees meeting I was pleased
and encouraged by the clear evidence that the entire CSU family is working
together in this campaign to obtain the resources requested by the Board.
All of us -- faculty and staff unions, Trustees, students and staff -- are
putting past differences aside to work for our common good.
I have already
written to each of our representatives in the legislature and we are following
up with visits at their regional and Sacramento offices by teams that include
faculty and staff union leadership. Expect to see us also go very public
with messages to our local community about the devastating impact these cuts
would have on our students, their families, and the economic viability of
the region we serve.
It is fair to say at this time that the budget situation,
both for this year and next, is extremely fluid. We are all watching the
legislative special session closely and are working with our legislative
representatives to mobilize support for the CSU budget and the Compact.
I
have told you what we know as of now and I will continue to keep you informed
as we learn more.
Sincerely,
Robert A. Corrigan
President San Francisco State University
