On August 3, CBS Evening News aired this insightful report on the severity of budget cuts across all California public universities, focusing on the difficulties that students are having with ever-higher tuition costs.   

Congress has voted to raise the federal debt limit until 2013. The deal centers on sharp spending cuts – up to $2.4 trillion – without increasing revenue. Those of us involved with California’s public higher education systems must be concerned about the impact of this deal on the state budget, not only this year but also in years to come.   

Sacramento, Calif. (July 18, 2011)--This morning, the California State University Stanislaus and California State University Fresno administrations notified the CSU Employees Union (CSUEU) that ten Stanislaus and two Fresno non-teaching, permanent staff positions will be subject to workforce reductions by layoffs. The Stanislaus layoffs are effective September 30, 2011, while the Fresno layoffs take effect on October 17, 2011.   

The California State Legislature approved $150 million in funding cuts to the California State University in the state budget bill adopted last night. These cuts come on top of $500 million in cuts enacted in March.   

On May 24, more than one dozen CSU presidents and their campus delegations met with Governor Brown to talk about the impact of budget cuts on the CSU. Already facing a $500 million reduction in funding, the CSU could face double that amount for 2011-12 if the Governor's proposed tax extensions are rejected. Read a CSU press release with complete details.
View a KGO-TV (San Francisco) report about the meeting.   

On May 19, the CSUEU bargaining team finished three days of contract negotiations with representatives of the CSU at the Sacramento State campus. This followed three days of sessions at Cal State Los Angeles two weeks ago.   

Across this state and across the nation public employee unions have been made into scapegoats by conservative leaders and those who passively defer to them. By blaming unions who are fighting to sustain middle-class jobs, they hope to distract public attention from those who are really responsible for driving our economy to the brink of disaster, Wall Street and big banks.   

(San Bernardino, CA) – California State University (CSU), San Bernardino students, faculty, and staff launched an aggressive online campaign today, urging legislators to “Stand up for California” and keep the doors to higher education open to Inland Empire students by supporting Gov. Jerry Brown’s budget plan.   

March 23, 2011 — At yesterday’s Board of Trustees meeting in Long Beach, Chancellor Charles Reed announced a 2.4 percent reduction in student count, or about 8000 students, roughly prorated across the campuses, as one impact of the $500 million cut to the CSU budget. Further impacts will be determined in weeks to come, depending on whether the cut remains at $500 million or balloons to up to $1 billion if a special election to extend revenues doesn’t take place this June or if those extensions are voted down. Read a March 22 Associated Press article about the CSU budget and enrollment cuts. Meanwhile, Gov. Brown is weighing options in the face of GOP resistance to holding a special election. Read a March 22 Capitol Weekly article detailing at least one plan that he’s considering. “The cuts identified so far may be preliminary as the state tries to address the budget problem,” says CSUEU President Pat Gantt. “Without a solution involving revenues, the CSU is caught in a downward spiral of budget cuts that ultimately will undermine its ability to meet its mission.”   

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (January 31, 2011)—Pat Gantt, president of the California State University Employees Union (CSUEU), issued this statement today in response to Gov. Jerry Brown’s State of the State address.