No more double-checking calendars and wondering when class is cancelled; furloughs are gone, at least for this school year.
A formal announcement that campus closure days would not return for the 2010-2011 academic year was welcome news at the university convocation Friday morning.
“Furloughs are gone,” said Provost Donald Para. “We hope to never have to deal with the f-word again.”Para said the campus was able to drop the furloughs, which were unpaid days off for instructors, due to early strategic planning. The university has struggled with decreased funding from the state — down $52 million, President F. King Alexander said — and students have suffered.
“Some might say we went from state-funded to state-located overnight,” Alexander said.
Decreased enrollment, admissions freezes, furloughs and fee hikes were all part of the plan to fill the gap last year. This year, Alexander said the university expects the situation to get better, or at least no worse.
“I believe we stand between the practical reality of not getting more state budget cuts and getting restoration of funds,” Alexander said.
The convocation — a formal welcome and kickoff for the school year — also included a speech from Alexander, highlights of CSULB’s 2009-2010 achievements and introductions of the president’s scholars and newly hired faculty.
Some of those achievements included receiving $46 million in grants, being ranked the fourth-best public university in the Western U.S. and being top-rated in granting degrees to minority students. The university also opened its school of nursing and, in partnership with Associated Students, Inc., the Student Recreation and Wellness Center, which was referred to as the most important development for student life since the opening of the University Student Union.
Despite the achievements, Para, Alexander and Academic Senate Chair Lisa Vollendorf all reiterated that, without restoration of funding, the level of quality in education is unsustainable.
“We must understand that our necessity hinges on restoration of funding to public education,” Vollendorf said.
Alexander pressed for reform in the formulas that are used to decide federal and state funding. He also urged the campus community to fundraise and continue to work for grants and other external funding.
“I believe we’re the kind of public university that the public wants,” Alexander said. “They just don’t know it yet, and we need to make sure they do.”
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