California State University Stanislaus President, Hamid Shirvani, sent out a New Year’s memo to his staff and faculty regarding the future of the college and the massive state deficit for the 2010-2011 budget year. Public colleges across California are experiencing similar budget issues as most have had to endure spending cuts and fee increases. Currently the colleges in the CSU system are lobbying for California to allocated enough funds so that they do not have to increase fees further for their students. This would be a big win as many colleges are having to make drastic cuts in almost every program, which included teachers, coaches, and administrators salaries. Many teachers are still weary though as there were some lay offs and many wonder if more are to come in the future if there are budget issues.
In addition to teachers and administration feeling frustrated, students are feeling even more pain as budget cuts delay their educational goals. Many students have been complaining about the increases in fees and have held protests across California colleges. There is even a statewide “Strike and Day of Action” protest being coordinated to occur on March 4th. This memo by the CSUS might have helped as this morning the Governor told a gathering of the Assembly and Senate that he is drawing the line at education with regard to the nearly $20 billion deficit for the state. Governor Schwarzenegger sees the long term value in education and suggests, as President Obama does, that it is the key to the economic recovery of California and the rest of the country.
Tags: California Colleges, California Economy, california education, California State University Stanislaus
