In 2007 there was a collective bargaining agreement with the California State University system, and part of that involved salary increases for faculty members. However those salary increases are on hold as of now, after a neutral fact-finding team concluded that the salary increases cannot be justified at this time due to the ongoing economic crisis. CSU has had their general fund cut by roughly 20% over the last two years, which has hindered their universities’ ability to operate efficiently and make students, faculty, and administrators all happy. This news is compounded with numerous other events that have hurt CSU schools, like the reduction of classes, cancellation of sports programs, and meeting student demand for enrollment. The debate is very tricky, as raises were promised as long as the CSU system was not required to use “new money,” and the administration believes that because of budget cuts, they would have to use “new” money to meet the promises they made back in 2007.
CSU faculty want the money promised to them, as many already have difficulties paying their bills while dealing with furloughs. These raises are a very small fraction of the overall CSU budget, but that is still part of a budget that is 20% smaller than expected. As of now the debate looks like it will continue between faculty and administration, to determine what is considered “new” money. Students are upset over reduced classes and increased fees, while faculty is now angry over broken promises to raise their salary. If the governor and the state do not fix these budget issues soon, it could be very detrimental to the educational future of California.
Thank you for this information. I will be sure to bookmark this page. Please look at my musical concert August 21st at UC Berkeley!