The largest college on campus is now in the process of implementing a series of cuts to offset its budget deficit with other colleges right behind or already slashing away at items that could close the remaining gap in the budget.
Some cuts will leave students with fewer events on campus, and a reduction in summer study abroad programs and basic items like pencils and paper.
College of Liberal Arts
In order to take care of a $633,000 shortfall for the 2009-10 academic year, the Cal State Long Beach College of Liberal Arts is taking measures formed by the CLA budget committee, according to an e-mail sent from Dean Gerry Riposa to faculty on Sept. 30.
Riposa said the college learned of their share from the provost in late August, adding that it must cut more than required based on a “formula” but that the university thought the college had the “greatest ability to withstand that level of cuts.”
While most cuts directly affect only faculty, a few reductions do reach students: For example, the CLA is no longer funding conferences and events held through the college.
“Word has been out [about the budget] and people haven’t been planning anything,” said Terie Bostic, the CLA administrative services manager and a member of the budget committee, adding that events are usually planned annually.
Riposa added, “The chairs, by a supermajority, voted to restrict [event] funding” to benefit students. “All of that money that we saved … goes to classes.”
Bostic said most events are also funded through other sources, including admission fees for guests and aid from Associated Students Inc. for student organizations.
Fewer students may also be able to travel abroad during the summer 2010 session. According to Riposa’s e-mail, faculty teaching classes abroad will not be supported financially for their trip outside of their teaching compensation. Bostic said there is a possibility some faculty will choose to cancel their trips.
There will also be fewer student and graduate assistants through attrition, according to Bostic. As people graduate or leave, they will not be replaced.
There will also be less departmental operating, expense and equipment funding, which includes pencils, paper, storage, copies, printing supplies and computers — “any kind of purchase you would make,” Bostic said.
Another reduction on the list requires no “underutilized” offices, conference rooms and classrooms. The college has a space shortage, Riposa said. If there is a storage area or office space not being used, he said, they can be arranged to use as a classroom or as an office.
The cuts also include a reduction in off-campus phone calls from faculty office landlines. Bostic said the phone service will be changed to automatically limit calls, though the college has not yet decided whether numbers in the 562 area code will be included in the limitations.
Repairs will also be limited with the exception of safety issues, but Bostic said this will not likely affect CSULB students directly, as classrooms are managed campuswide rather than by any specific college.
Depending on the final budget, CLA faculty will be able to keep the option of altering their raises. When faculty are promoted — for example, from associate to full-time professor — they receive a 7.5 percent raise but can still request a larger raise by demonstrating “outstanding” work, Bostic said.
Among the cuts is travel funding for faculty presenting papers at conferences, no sabbaticals out of contracts, no recruitment and hires, no counter offers, no assign time for center directors outside of endowed centers, less grant and fellowship funding, less copying expenditures, minimal staff replacement, reductions to college and department assign time, and extension of computer replacement periods.
Because the college is not allowed to hire new faculty and administration, there are a few positions left unfilled, such as a second associate dean, Riposa said.
Center directors typically work with a program and do not teach courses. With no assign time, they will be sent back to the classroom with less time to plan for their programs, Bostic said.
Riposa said the college was unable to make the cuts and inform faculty and staff sooner because it did not know exactly how much it needed to cut at the time when furloughs were still being discussed within unions and the board of trustees had not yet approved the additional fee increase. The college did tell department chairs in mid-July that the cuts were a possibility.
Though the cuts will help, they will not cover the full $633,000. Riposa said the college does not yet know how much it will have left over but that it is striving to keep the debt from carrying over to the 2010-11 academic year.
The CLA is taking faculty suggestions. Faculty will be able to send ideas by speaking to their department chairs, attending a public forum, contacting the CLA faculty council or visiting the dean’s office.
Riposa said he hasn’t received negative feedback from faculty because “there’s a fair amount of understanding” that the cuts are necessary to have the most classes possible.
College of Engineering
On the other hand, the College of Engineering has not yet received the specifics of its budget, according to Dean Forouzan Golshani.
He said the college has had to “be creative” in adjusting to lower levels of funding during this “trick year” but that the college will “manage.”
Golshani said, “We met a lot of our cuts by virtue of retirements that happened in the college, and non-essential services.”
The College of Engineering’s goal is to offer the courses its students need, which Golshani said is possible.
“Student access … is the No. 1 criterion in any decision that we’ll make,” Golshani said.
Some of the changes already in the works include postponement of work that is not needed in the near future.
According to Golshani, the college will undergo accreditation in three years and has shelved research and data gathering for the accreditation process for one or two semesters.
The college has also switched systems to save on technical support.
College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics
In the College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, the full extent of the budget cuts has not yet been seen and the final numbers cannot yet be calculated.
“Things just keep getting added on,” said Dean Laura Kingsford.
Kingsford said events are also going to take a hit within the college, which has been discussing which events will continue, keeping in mind which facilities are without attached fees.
The college is also cutting back on food spending and no new equipment will be purchased this year, according to Kingsford.
Restrictions have also been placed campuswide on travel and hiring new employees.
“Normally I would go to, easily, two or three meetings each semester,” Kingsford said. “Now I’m probably doing two the whole year.”
Outside of state funding, the college also relies on the Foundation and winter and summer session classes. And given the research-oriented nature of the college, it is also federally financed.
College of Business Administration
At the College of Business Administration, the semester is “pretty much set” in terms of cuts it has implemented.
According to Dean Michael Solt, the college has prepared for all the cuts it knows about. The CBA has been working with the central administration in planning for the 4.6 percent, or about $502,377, cut from the college’s budget without including the 10 percent from faculty and staff furloughs.
“Given the mandates … that the university has from the CSU and that we have from the central administration, we aren’t planning anything else,” Solt said, adding that the college would “take appropriate action” in the event that the state Legislature imposes mid-year budget cuts or under any other circumstance.
The college
, like the CLA, also holds and sponsors events for its students, but Solt said he plans to keep funding for those events intact. He gave an example of the CBA-sponsored Distinguished Speaker series, which business administration students will be involved in.
“We thought that was so important, we wanted to continue funding it,” Solt said.
Budget positives
The colleges each react differently to the budget crisis, focusing on issues that pertain to their disciplines.
Solt said he “[gives] this university a lot of credit” for early budget-cut planning.
Solt compared CSULB to other CSU campuses such as Cal State Fullerton, which he said cancelled about 150 class sections in August, “reacting after the fact.”
“The one great thing about this university is it’s very well managed, it’s very fiscally responsible and financially responsible,” Solt said. “We were ahead of the curve in terms of planning for the budget cuts.”
While the cuts do help, most funding goes to salaries, which accounts for about 80 percent of the CSU budget.
“That’s the only place you can really see a difference,” Kingsford said of cuts to salaries.
Despite the budget situation and frustrations among staff and faculty, Kingsford sees optimism in the CSULB community.
“Nobody’s really happy about any of this, but I’m really pleased to see how well I think people are pulling together to make it work,” Kingsford said.
Solt echoed that thought, saying that the community has been understanding even though faculty and staff do not want pay cuts, and students don’t want higher fees.
“We’re all in it together,” Solt said. “We’re not the cause of the problem, yet we’re affected by the problem.”
Check back next week for information on the other colleges and their budget reductions for the year, as well as comments from the President’s Office.