If the taxes are voted down, the CSU’s state funding will be reduced to $1.8 billion, the lowest amount the university has received in 17 years, yet the CSU is serving 90,000 more students.
The governor’s January budget proposed flat funding for the CSU and a $200 million trigger cut if the tax measure was not approved by voters. The May Revise increases the potential reduction to $250 million as the governor attempts to cover a state deficit that has grown to nearly $16 billion from $9.2 billion.
If the additional cut is triggered, it will represent an almost 39 percent reduction in state funding for the CSU since support peaked in fiscal year 2007-08.
The CSU’s cost-saving measures and student tuition fee increases have not filled the budget hole. The trustees requested a comprehensive report of possible cost-cutting and revenue enhancement options, and at their meeting last week they were presented a wide-ranging list that included: creating shared services centers; reducing enrollment; making more expensive courses independent of state support; closing a CSU campus; increasing class sizes; instituting changes in employee/employer health care premiums; reducing personnel costs; and increasing fees for extra course units, as well as for super seniors, graduate students and nonresidents. Their discussion of the options revealed that some of them have limited potential or are not feasible, and a more refined list is expected to be presented at a future meeting.
For the fall 2013 term, the CSU will waitlist all students applying for admission pending the approval or rejection of the November tax measure with a rejection and the subsequent $250 million budget cut leading to possible further enrollment reductions. For the spring 2013 term, the CSU will reduce enrollment to match available funding and the admission of new students for that term will be limited to those who have received an associate degree for transfer from a California community college. More information.
New Compensation Policy Set in Motion
The CSU Board of Trustees last week adopted a recommendation to freeze presidential compensation paid with state funds for incoming presidents at the level paid to the previous incumbent president. If the board determines additional pay is necessary to hire the best candidate, the additional pay will be funded from donations raised by the campus foundation solely for that purpose, and will not exceed 10 percent of the state-funded base pay.
The Trustees Special Committee on Presidential Selection and Compensation in January set forth a policy on executive compensation that capped compensation for newly-hired presidents to no more than 10 percent above the outgoing president’s base pay, but revised the policy to limit the amount of state general funds spent on presidential salaries. The board will revisit the policy in 2014.
The CSU is in the process of several presidential searches. More information.
New Presidents Named at San Francisco and San Bernardino Campuses
Tomás D. Morales, president of the College of Staten Island, The City University of New York, has been named president of California State University, San Bernardino, and Leslie E. Wong, president of Northern Michigan University, has been named president of San Francisco State University.
Morales will succeed retiring President Al Karnig, who has served as CSUSB president since 1997, and Wong will succeed retiring President Robert Corrigan, who has served as SFSU president since 1988.
Morales has been president of the College of Staten Island since 2007.From 2001 to 2007, he served in various positions at Cal Poly Pomona including Vice President for Student Affairs, Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs, professor of education and Principal Deputy to the President. Morales was previously Vice President for Student Affairs and Dean of Students at The City College of New York/CUNY from 1994 to 2001 and was Assistant Dean of the School of Education at SUNY, New Paltz, from 1992 to 1994.
Morales holds a bachelor’s degree from The State University of New York, New Paltz, and earned his master’s degree and PhD from SUNY, Albany. He is expected to begin August 15.
Wong has served as president of Northern Michigan University since 2004. He previously served as vice president of academic affairs at Valley City State University in North Dakota and also held several leadership positions with the University of Southern Colorado in Pueblo (now Colorado State University at Pueblo) from 1996 to 1999.He also served as academic dean and faculty at The Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington. Wong was a psychology instructor at Pierce College in Tacoma, Washington early in his career.
Wong holds a bachelor’s degree from Gonzaga University, a master’s degree from Eastern Washington University, and a PhD from Washington State University. He is expected to begin August 1. More information.