We must reduce our operational budgets to meet unprecedented declines in the CSU system’s general fund revenue. The process of making these decisions is underway and is guided by the Budget Reduction Principles document, which can be found at the budget web site, www.humboldt.edu/~budget, along with this memo, previous communications and other budget information.
In addition to sharing information on the web and by email, I have provided the University Executive Committee with regular briefings on the budget crisis and have been communicating closely with the Vice Presidents who, in turn, have been working closely with their respective staffs. Provost Snyder and I also met recently with the leadership of the Academic Senate, the Associated Students, the Staff Council and the University Budget Committee to brief them and listen to their ideas for confronting this situation.
One of the difficulties we face is that information continues to be limited and entangled in the political processes in Sacramento. There are also ongoing negotiations with the bargaining units regarding various scenarios that must be resolved at the system level. The Chancellor and the campus presidents met recently to discuss options. While no details were finalized, discussions will continue with the Board of Trustees at a special meeting on July 7th. During their regularly scheduled July 21st meeting, we hope the Trustees will adopt more specific recommendations to implement budget reductions in the CSU.
Despite the uncertainty, we must move forward soon with a number of difficult decisions because making them as soon as possible will reduce the overall negative effect on students, faculty and staff. While I am very concerned by the decisions that we will have to make, I also believe that they can be made in ways that prepare HSU to recover quickly and emerge more closely aligned with our vision and strategic plan when the economy improves.
Some reduction actions are already underway or completed. These actions and those to come will generally fall into four categories: one-time or emergency reductions; cost savings and efficiencies; enrollment reductions; and service and program reduction or elimination.
Major actions already being taken include:
- Equipment purchases will be deferred except for emergencies and negotiated start-ups for new faculty.
- Only travel deemed essential will be permitted. Funding for travel to professional conferences for presentations will be considered for junior faculty who are advancing toward tenure/promotion. Travel that is essential to student recruitment or fundraising, as well as travel mandated by the Chancellor’s Office, will also be allowed.
- In an effort to reduce enrollments to meet expected new CSU limits, the summer session will be shifted to a self-support operation under Extended Education. The alternative was to close the summer session, as at least one other campus has done, but that would have severely disrupted the plans of students and faculty with very short notice and would have hampered student progress toward their degrees.
- The Provost, Deans, Vice Presidents and their colleagues have already made decisions to reduce their expenditures and will continue to do so as we receive more explicit recommendations from the Trustees and the Chancellor.
This represents an initial round of emergency reductions. The actions taken on a system-wide level will influence further campus reductions. Careful and conservative planning helped us build a sizeable reserve and, where possible and prudent, roll-forward funds will be used to mitigate reductions. The overall CSU reduction is currently estimated at $584 million. That could mean an HSU reduction of $12 – $16 million. One thing is painfully clear: substantial additional campus cuts will have to be made.
I will continue to provide you with timely information about this fiscal emergency. Updates will be posted as available on our budget website.
Please know that I appreciate your good work and your understanding of these painful circumstances. In spite of these damaging reductions, HSU continues to provide a critically important service to our students, our region and California. Together we can survive this crisis and effect those changes that will make Humboldt State University an even better university for the future.
Sincerely,
Rollin C. Richmond
President