FULLERTON : Cal State Cuts Not as Bad as Feared

He came bearing good news and bad.

No Cal State Fullerton professors will be laid off this year. State cuts won’t hit as hard as administrators thought.

But in his annual “State of the University” address Thursday to the Academic Senate, President Milton A. Gordon said the central mission of the state university system is in jeopardy.

Gordon said Fullerton’s budget was cut $24.1 million from last year and could be cut as much next year.

“We must convince the public of what is at stake,” he said. Gordon said cuts in the university system undermine the quality of California’s work force and competitiveness. He also said it is becoming much more difficult for recent immigrants to attend the university.

Administrators had prepared for 10% cuts in their departments, but they need to cut only 9.2%, which will save some programs previously thought to be doomed. Gordon said final budget statistics were only revealed two weeks ago by the state and show that the university will get an extra $2.5 million. “I hope there are no other changes,” he said.

But Gordon also said that almost half the new money will go to pay for faculty retirement incentives that have already been signed and to save faculty positions that might have been cut in the spring semester.

The state provided 82% of the state university system’s budget, with student fees providing 18%, Gordon said. He said the state funded 88% of the budget four years ago.

Yearly fees for full-time students have increased from $684 in 1988-89 to $1,308 for the current year, Gordon said. Fullerton also tacks on another $100 yearly to cover building costs for the student-approved University Center and other fees.

Gordon told faculty that California has cut its public university system more harshly than 48 other states. Only Virginia, he said, has made cuts as severe.