The possibility of further budget cuts has left Cal State Long Beach faculty members unsure of what to expect during the 2009-2010 academic year.
During the most recent bimonthly Academic Senate meeting on April 16, CSULB President F. King Alexander and California Faculty Association president and Asian studies professor Teri Yamada tried their best to address professors’ confusion about the budget cuts that could be made to the California State University and University of California systems if federal stimulus money does not come through on time.
CSULB faculty will get a better idea of what to expect budget-wise once the future of Proposition 1A is decided in the Statewide Special Election on May 19. Among five proposals meant to reallocate funds, Proposition 1A, if passed, would take 7.5 percent more money away from the state’s general fund — where the CSU and UC systems receive their funding.
However, even if Proposition 1A is not passed, “the system is still broken and dysfunctional” in Sacramento and would need more attention, Yamada said.
One policy that is yet to be decided is the possible amendments to the Graduation Writing Assessment Requirement (GWAR).
Although about half of faculty members felt it was an issue that needed to be dealt with as soon as possible, and discussion of the issue took up the majority of the senate meeting, the rest of the senate felt that they should abstain from making a final decision on GWAR revisions until November 2009, when the Writing Task Force will give its report.