Editor’s note: This article has been corrected to eliminate a typo and to clarify the amount of funding each CSU can expect to receive.
Cal State Universities are set to make a budget decision for the 2011-12 CSU school year based on the possibility of California voters extending temporary tax increases.
If approved by the state legislature, June ballots will contain measures that will extend current sales and income taxes, with some of that revenue going to higher education. This means that the current $500 million cut to the CSU budget is a best-case scenario for the 23-campus system.
According to David Dowell, vice provost and director of strategic planning for Cal State Long Beach, the largest concern is whether voters approve the tax extensions this June.
“If those extensions are not approved by the voters, the CSU will be looking at much more dire budget circumstances that could seriously threaten our ability to serve students,” Dowell said via e-mail.
Budget uncertainty is forcing the CSU chancellor’s office to consider all of its options. However, CSU media relations specialist Erik Fallis said everything right now is based on speculation.
“We are waiting and trying to plan,” he said. “Campuses are making assumptions based on their share of the budget. Unfortunately, in some ways, it is a best-case scenario. The governor’s budget is based on revenues and, if he doesn’t get these, it could mean deeper cuts.”
According to the proposed budget, the CSU system will get $2.2 billion in funding to be split between the 23 campuses.
Fallis said the campuses can assume that if they have 10 percent of the current system budget, they may expect to see 10 percent of the overall budget cuts.
CSULB administration is waiting for the chancellor’s office to decide on how many students to admit for fall 2011.
“We don’t have a firm enrollment target from the chancellor’s office so we don’t know specific admissions numbers for fall,” Dowell said.
Dowell said the changes would also affect how many staffers the CSU hires.
He said, “Given the recent cuts, we probably will have very few searches in the coming year and, therefore, very few new faculty in fall 2012.”
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