July 25, 2008

The Honorable Arnold Schwarzenegger
Governor, State of California
State Capitol
Sacramento, California 95814

Dear Governor Schwarzenegger:

We would like to take this opportunity to thank you for the commitment you have made to higher education, particularly to the California State University (CSU), in the budget process to date. We very much appreciate that the conference committee supported the May Revision proposal to reverse $97.6 million of previously recommended cuts to the CSU budget. This funding level, while welcome under the circumstances, still places major funding challenges upon CSU, given our mandatory costs, enrollment growth and compensation lags for our employees. Even with the May Revision level, state support for the CSU budget remains flat between fiscal years, even though the Governor’s workload budget identifies additional needs of $215 million.

We believe that the funding level adopted by the conference committee reflects your belief that an investment in CSU is an investment in the future of the state. We urge you and your legislative colleagues to not only maintain this minimum level of funding for 2008-09 but invest the $215 million required to meet workload needs so that all of us can keep the promise to thousands of Californians interested in a better future and personal opportunity while turning no qualified student away.

The only new revenues for the CSU in the proposed budget come from the 10 percent increase in student fees. After providing additional financial aid, these fee revenues yield a net $73.2 million for the system. While the net increase in fee revenues does provide us some needed revenue it does not allow the university to address a wide range of pressing needs. These needs include providing (1) adequate classes and student services to meet record student enrollment levels and (2) reasonable and necessary compensation investments for our faculty and staff, all of which have salary lags compared to the national marketplace in which we compete for these professionals. Closing these salary gaps is essential for retaining and recruiting top faculty and staff to teach and provide critical educational services to present and future generations of CSU students. Your investment in the students of the CSU will provide a strong foundation and a bright hope for California’s future.

We understand that our request comes during a difficult time, but we are also aware that California’s economic, social and educational future depends on sustaining wise and targeted investments in the very midst of economic difficulty.

Thank you for your leadership of the state in this difficult budget year and thank you for your consideration of our views on the CSU budget.

Sincerely,

Charles B. Reed
Chancellor

Floyd Anscombe, Chief Steward
Union of American Physicians and Dentists

James Banks, President
United Auto Workers

Fernando Beltran, President
Academic Professionals of California

John Connor, Business Manager
State Employees Trades Council

Patrick Gantt, President
California State University Employees Union

Jim Procida, President
State University Police Association

Tim Synder, Chair
California State Student Association

Lillian Taiz, President
California Faculty Association