---

Letter from President Welty ­ CSU budget update

---

I am writing to keep the university community up-to-date on the latest discussions related to the CSU budget for the current academic year (2002-2003) and for next year (2003-2004). As many of you are aware, the state budget proposed by Governor Davis in January of 2003 contains significant reductions for the CSU for the coming academic year, along with additional mid-year cuts for the current academic year.

During my comments at the spring Faculty and Staff Assembly, I outlined the details of the Governor's proposed budget reductions for the CSU, and I described the budget planning process for our own campus. For the current academic year, the CSU anticipates an additional $59.6 reduction, on top of earlier reductions and unfunded costs of approximately $65.8 million. This adds up to a total budget reduction (including unfunded costs) to the CSU for 2002-2003 in the amount of $125.4 million. Due to the magnitude of these reductions, and in order to continue to provide access to students, the CSU Board of Trustees acted to approve a student fee increase for the spring 2003 semester.

On our own campus, we began planning for budget cuts last year. The university administration has been working closely with the University Budget Committee to develop contingency plans to prepare for this year's budget reductions. As a result of this planning and the implementation of a number of cost-savings initiatives, we have been able to move forward this semester without major disruptions to our programs and services.

Next year, however, our task becomes more difficult. For the 2003-2004 academic year, the CSU is facing a net budget reduction of $260.7 million, or a 10 percent cut from its $2.6 billion general fund budget. On top of these budget reductions, enrollment next year on CSU campuses is expected to grow by nearly five percent, with approximately 25,000 new students. This will be a tremendous challenge for the CSU and each of the CSU campuses.

In order to engage all CSU constituents in discussions on the implications of the state budget for next year, the CSU will conduct a series of special meetings over the next few months. The System Budget Advisory Committee, which is made up of presidents, provosts, and student, faculty, staff and alumni leaders, will meet on Feb. 21 and April 10. In addition, the CSU Board of Trustees' Committee on Finance will meet on Feb. 28 and April 17.

In order to provide an additional opportunity for consultation on the budget crisis with a broad base of campus constituents, the CSU will convene a Budget Summit on March 14 in Long Beach. Summit attendees will include the chancellor, campus presidents, campus associated student presidents, chairs of campus academic senates, and executive committee members from the Statewide Academic Senate and the California State Student Association.

On our own campus, I have asked the University Budget Committee to work with the Provost, vice presidents and deans as we begin to prepare for the reductions in our budget that we anticipate will occur in 2003-2004. I have asked the Provost, vice presidents, and deans to prepare plans which assume that we will have to reduce the Academic Affairs budget by 5 percent next year, and all other areas of the university by 7.5 percent. These plans assume that our enrollment will grow by 5 to 6 percent over this year's target. Fortunately, all areas of the university began work on budget reduction plans last year. This work will help us. These plans will be due by March 1 and I will review the plans submitted in early March with the University Budget Committee.

During the Faculty and Staff Assembly on Jan. 21, I outlined a number of guiding principles for the Provost, vice presidents and deans to adhere to as they prepare budget reduction proposals in their respective areas.

A list of the guiding principles, along with an outline of state budget reductions for the CSU in 2002-2003 and 2003-2004 is available online at www.fresnostatenews.com/2003/January/PresAddress.html. A hard copy is available in the Office of the President.

The Legislature will continue to meet on the state budget throughout the spring semester. The development of a final state budget is not anticipated until well after the Governor releases his annual "May Revise," which is a revised budget proposed by the Governor in May of each year, based on updated state revenue information. Between now and the time when the final state budget is adopted, there may be a number of changes to the CSU budget. As new developments occur related to the CSU budget, I will provide updates to the campus community through the use of Infomail and the University Journal.

Back to University Journal, 3/03 Issue