CSUN University News Clippings

Cal State trustees meet on budget cuts, furlough days

(July 8, 2009)

By Gale Holland
Published: 07/07/09

The Cal State Board of Trustees is meeting in special session in Long Beach today to consider ways to close a projected $584-million budget shortfall for the coming school year brought on by the state budget crisis.

Cal State officials have proposed furloughing 47,000 employees two days a month to help offset the funding cuts. Two unions representing about 21,000 employees have agreed to negotiate furloughs with the administration, university system officials said this week.

The officials said the unpaid days off, if agreed to by all employees, would save the system about $275 million and prevent steeper cuts to course offerings.

The California Faculty Assn., which represents 23,000 full- and part-time teachers and lecturers, has requested more information about how any additional cuts will be made before they accept the furloughs.

“What we’re asking is, if we take furloughs, what impact will the rest of the cuts have on faculty?” said John Travis, the union’s statewide political action and legislative chairman.

Travis said another option was to pass the cuts on to the system’s 23 campuses, which he said could be especially hard on Cal State outposts with fewer resources, including Dominguez Hills, Bakersfield and Humboldt, where he has taught for 39 years.

– Gale Holland in Long Beach

Publication: Los Angeles Times