There always is a buzz of excitement around the first week of classes. It is a wonderful feeling to welcome students to campus, and to be fully engaged along with faculty and staff in the main mission of the University after summer break.
I recognize that the 2009-10 academic year brings with it special circumstances and challenges: facing significant budget cuts, the University has been forced to take actions that have gravely affected everyone in the campus community, including our students, faculty and staff. As I mentioned in the recent President’s Convocation, we moved the site of the annual address to a different location to take advantage of natural tree shade as both a symbolic and a practical recognition of the new reality we find ourselves in of needing to preserve resources wherever we can while maintaining quality. This week also is the traditional time when I usually host the annual Welcome Back Picnic. Given the uncertainty of the budget and the need to carefully manage resources, after consulting with campus leadership and Associated Students, it was decided not have the picnic this year.
Nevertheless, despite the difficulties of the past few months as the reality of the budget situation came to light, and the many challenges that remain, I am excited that students have returned and that we can re-focus our energies on serving their needs and preparing them for academic and future success.
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Faculty and Staff Budget Forums
As we begin the new academic year and settle in to the new budget reality which has affected many people’s personal finances as well as their ability to be effective at their jobs and get their work done, I recognize there remain many questions and concerns. To this end, I will host a series of budget forums, which are listed below. Recognizing the unique roles and needs of members of the campus community, separate meetings have been organized for faculty and for staff.
Each of the meetings listed below is scheduled to take place in the Presentation Room of the Oviatt Library. I hope you can join me at one of these sessions. I will provide a brief presentation regarding the status of the budget, then open the floor to any questions or concerns you may have.
Faculty Budget Forums:
September 1 – 3:00 – 4:00 p.m.
September 2 – 2:00 – 3:00 p.m.
Staff Budget Forums:
September 2 – 10:00 – 11:00 a.m.
September 8 – 1:00 – 2:00 p.m.
The following email reminder has just been distributed to all faculty and staff:
As a reminder, the President’s Annual Convocation address is scheduled for Thursday, August 20th. It begins with the traditional Welcome Back Coffee at 8:30 a.m., followed by the President’s Convocation address at 9 a.m. (The location for the address remains south of the Oviatt Library but has been moved across Cleary Walk to take advantage of the natural shade of the trees–anyone proceeding to the usual site of the address on the Library’s South Lawn will easily spot the new location when they arrive.)
As many of you know, this event traditionally helps kick off the beginning of the new academic year. Given the unprecedented challenges facing Cal State Northridge and higher education in this moment in history, the President looks forward to welcoming faculty and staff to the event, and to the opportunity to speak about the future of the University.
Office of the President
This Friday, August 7, and Monday, August 10, most Cal State Northridge employees— myself included—will take our first state budget furlough days of the year. They represent the first visible and public consequence of the large budget cuts that our campus and the entire California State University system have been forced to take for the 2009-10 academic year.
These state budget closure days mean that students, their parents, and others in the community will not be able to receive timely assistance or answers to their questions and concerns related to classes, services and programs. It will be a very public sign of how the state’s budget and economy have deeply impacted the University and its ability to fulfill its mission and obligations.
These furloughs also reflect the deep harm and hardship being done to the University’s loyal and dedicated employees, who essentially will be taking a 10 percent salary reduction in return for taking two furlough days a month to mitigate deep budget cuts. Given the economic times, I know how challenging these salary reductions will be for many, and have seen first hand among staff and faculty the many difficult decisions and adjustments that will have to made due to lost income.
Just as pernicious will be the impact on the students and surrounding region we serve: we already have turned away students who were otherwise fully deserving and qualified to attend Cal State Northridge, and we will be forced to continue to turn away students to meet the systemwide goal of cutting enrollment by nearly 40,000 students to preserve quality of instruction and programs at the CSU. Many students already have seen a decrease in class selections, and when the new academic year begins I suspect we will begin to see more examples of the extent of the budget cuts.
The lost income, the impact on students, and the effect on our ability to serve the surrounding community are all the result of California being unable to fully meet its mission and obligations to serve the people of the state and, particularly, provide the kind of education that for decades has been the envy of the world and the economic engine of California. These are challenges we will continue to deal with into the 2010-11 academic year.
If you are a student, a member of the public, or an employee, we hope you will recognize that we at Cal State Northridge—the administration in partnership with the staff and faculty—have done our best to manage this severe reduction in resources by maintaining access, jobs and programs as much as possible. While Cal State Northridge is not responsible for this crisis, we are part of a system that has been seriously hampered by a financial calamity, and must share in the burden of helping the state remain solvent.
In the face of what lies ahead, I hope we can face these serious challenges as a community, while acting in a supportive and understanding manner at all levels of the University. As always, I appreciate the outstanding work that continues to be done at Cal State Northridge by its dedicated faculty and staff, and the strength of character everyone has shown during these trying times. Your continued commitment to the University’s mission and its students these past several months speak volumes about the resiliency and excellence of our institution.
Please note the Campus Budget News website and the Campus Budget News FAQs were updated today to point to FAQs on the Faculty Furlough Program (note that this FAQ is a PDF document). These FAQs are on the Faculty Affairs website, and will be updated as new information becomes available.
Due to the rapidly changing nature of the state and CSU budget situation, expect continued updates to the Campus Budget News website and pages linked to the site.
