June 2, 2009

The Joint Legislative Budget Conference Committee heard testimony about higher education yesterday. The majority of the testimony was by students explaining how the cuts would affect them. Most of the students were from the community college system.

Chancellor Reed testified and requested that any cuts be unallocated so that the CSU can balance its budget needs internally. One of the driving forces behind this request is the Governor’s proposal to eliminate outreach programs in the CSU. The outreach efforts in the CSU have been very successful in improving enrollment on some campuses, especially for underrepresented students.

He wanted to have enrollment targets removed and reiterated that his first goals were to protect service and access to students and faculty and staff positions.

Earlier today, the CSU’s Statewide Budget Advisory Committee met. Numbers from the May revise(s) are still fluid, so we still are not clear on the impacts on positions. The budget numbers could change, as the legislature can adopt a different budget than what the governor has proposed, and the governor still may add more details to his May revisions. The governor and legislature have both stated that they want the budget issues resolved before the end of June and the start of the next fiscal year.

Chancellor Reed is scheduled to meet with campus presidents tomorrow, at which time he should specify current budget cut estimates and their impacts across all the campuses.