Faced with some already drastic cuts and an even bleaker financial outlook, leaders of the California Faculty Association - like their K-12 colleagues in CTA - are attempting to keep budget cuts as far away from the classroom as possible.
The CFA, which represents 24,000 professors, lecturers, librarians, counselors and coaches throughout the California State University system, has negotiated an agreement that instructs the CSU administration to protect instruction, student services and libraries from the budget cut.
"We want to minimize the impact on instruction and make sure campuses understand their obligation to their students," says newly elected CFA President John Travis, a political science professor at Humboldt State University.
As a result, CFA leaders on the 23 campuses of the state university system are mobilizing to prepare for what promises to be a grim year. Already students are returning to school to find dramatic increases in class size, fewer courses offered and longer lines.
While CSU hasn't technically laid off instructors and the budget is "not as bad as it could have been," Travis says, the union will have to be vigilant to make sure there isn't further damage to the system.
CFA had already been at odds with CSU over the administration's "investment" in the Common Management System (CMS), a costly hardware and software upgrade that may wind up costing in excess of $660 million. The boondoggle was initially exposed by CFA last year and has since been the subject of a joint legislative audit. At the time, then CFA President Susan Meisenhelder characterized the costly computer system as "the tip of a very large iceberg."
The scandal over the CMS system provided the backdrop for CFA's campaign to forge a "supplemental budget language" agreement with the administration to make sure the focus stayed on students and the classroom. Still, enforcing the agreement will take some doing as the CSU administration attempts to interpret the agreement in its own way. Reports from campus CFA leaders have been mixed.
"We have a fairly clear notion that they are just taking a hatchet to make across-the-board cuts, which flies in the face of prioritizing instruction and student services," says CFA Vice President Lillian Taiz, who is also serving as chapter president at CSU Los Angeles.
The campus administration sent out layoff notices to nine part-time librarians "before we even knew what the budget was," says Taiz. "It caught us all by surprise."
By pointing to the new supplemental budget language, however, the chapter was able to persuade the administration to rescind the notices. "It was a massive victory for us."
Still, Taiz says, budget cuts are definitely being felt on campus. The 43 percent fee increase has forced some students to postpone their education and has resulted in the enrollment falling below predicted targets. Students are crammed into classrooms or finding they can't get the classes they need to fulfill their degree requirements.
"I'm absolutely convinced that there are thousands of students who are simply not enrolling," says Taiz. "This isn't good for anyone."
In the meantime, more bad news is on the way. At their October meeting, CSU trustees will begin to mull over how to cut an additional 20 percent of the budget for next year. The governor has requested all state agencies to identify areas where the cuts can be targeted. The loss of an anticipated $482.6 million could turn away another 100,000 students.
Dale Martin
