CSUB budget cut announcement delayed; faculty still on edge
| Thursday, Dec 03 2009 05:10 PM
Last Updated Thursday, Dec 03 2009 05:11 PM
Cal State Bakersfield faculty, students and others will have to wait another month before President Horace Mitchell announces what will be cut next year because of severe budget woes.
Mid-December was originally thought to be the announcement date for cuts, but news that furloughs may last longer than originally expected has changed things, Mitchell said.
Now, Mitchell and administrators are waiting for Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's budget proposal in January before deciding. Everything campus-related is still being considered for the chopping block, including academic programs, employees, classes and athletics, he said.
There's worry among faculty that entire departments will be eliminated such as Spanish and Anthropology. Although no decisions can be made yet, Mitchell said he is considering the long-term effects of cuts.
"We have to make things work in a way to not damage the university in the longer term," Mitchell said. "We have to make it more efficient."
Only necessary cuts will be made, Mitchell said, but layoffs are possible.
Two math department faculty members were recently notified their contracts won't be renewed. The faculty association calls them layoffs, but administration does not.
"It's tense," said Bruce Hartsell, chapter president of the California Faculty Association and a professor in CSUB's Department of Social Work. "People are scared for their jobs."
The cuts come as the university is growing. Freshmen applicants are up 52 percent; more than 8,200 are enrolled now.
The university, however, is expected to reduce student enrollment by 6 percent next year, a state mandate. Winter and spring enrollment has been closed.
Meanwhile, faculty and administrators are taking a 10 percent pay cut in the form of furloughs. And tuition went up for students 32 percent this year.
The California Faculty Association has gone as far as to say they believe administrators are using the economic crisis to "restructure" the entire CSU system by eliminating core academic subject areas such as music, languages and physics. Administrators, they believe, are attempting to make CSUs smaller, more elite and structured to serve the needs of corporate interests.
They cite an internal memo by CSU chief financial officer Benjamin Quillian from October that says, "the budget reduction strategies must yield a fundamental transformation of the ways we meet the needs of our students, faculty and staff."
The association fears "what took 50 years to build will be cut in four months," said David Bradfield, a professor at Cal State Dominguez Hills and chapter president.
It would be impossible to recover once the economy improves from structural changes the association believes are being planned.
Hartsell said it's clear administrators want "an institution that looks like the University of Phoenix."
Mitchell said Wednesday, "We're not doing that here."
Priority, he said, will continue to be given to local students.
Mitchell said he understands why people are frustrated. But it's difficult to say exactly what will happen when budget scenarios are constantly changing, he said.
"It's frustrating for people," Mitchell said. "It's hard on people when you have a moving target. We're not making the target move, but we have to respond to it."
