Associated Students Inc. President Chris Chavez said at a meeting Wednesday that the California State University board of trustees has already approved a proposal that would force students to graduate earlier.
Chavez said the Curriculum in Educational Policies Council has not yet approved the proposal to cap students’ maximum number of units to 140. He said in a previous Senate meeting that the proposal would reduce the number of students currently enrolled. The proposal has yet to be forwarded to the Academic Senate for approval.
Chavez also announced Wednesday that the CSU board of trustees authorized campuses to reduce enrollment by 40,000 students next year.
ASI also elected a public defender and a student media board committee member. The senators voted 16 to 1 to elect senior business major Jamil Aslam as the ASI public defender.
The student media board committee election was a heated race divided among three candidates. Journalism major Deborah Rowe won by one vote over Matt Palafox and Aaron J. Finkle.
ASI senators held Senate Resolution 2010-03 until the next meeting for the second and third readings as well as Senate Resolution 2010-04, which is a resolution for the support of California Assembly Bill 656, for a first reading.
AB 656 would impose an oil and gas severance tax in 2010 on oil and gas producers at a rate of about 10 percent. The revenue generated from the bill would reimburse local agencies and school districts.
A Cal State Long Beach administrator announced to the Senate that the university will be about $29 million in debt during the next fiscal year.
Mary Stephens, vice president of administration and finance, listed possible budget predictions for 2010-11 based on possible budget cuts the board of trustees could make. According to Stephens, even if CSULB raised student fees by 10 percent and lowered the number of full-time students attending, the university would still be down by about $24 million.
Projections were even worse for CSULB if the state reduced funding by 6.5 percent. The university would be about $30 million in debt in this scenario.
A group of 10 students attended the meeting but left immediately when Stephens announced her budget prediction. Stephens also said the administration and finance committee will hold more budget presentations and Q-and-A sessions for students.
The presentation dates will be available at the CSULB Budget Central Web page.
This article was last updated Oct. 1 at 3:12 p.m. Furloughs can only be implemented by employee unions, not by the university or the California State University system.