As many of you know, the governor and state legislature have failed to meet their June 30 deadline for completing a 2009-2010 budget. Although the outcome of the state's budget process remains uncertain, the California State University system and San Jose State University must finalize plans for budget reductions given that the academic year begins in six weeks.
At a special CSU Board of Trustees meeting Tuesday, Chancellor Charles B. Reed confirmed we have reached the point where we need to assume that the system will incur a $584 million budget reduction as the governor proposed. As a result, systemwide measures discussed by the chancellor over the past few months will be implemented.
Expect further enrollment reductions, student fee increases, and furloughs for many of our employees. As you might imagine, we are still working through the details. The chancellor's office will make more information available Friday, July 10, when an agenda will be posted for the next Board of Trustees meeting Tuesday, July 21.
Meanwhile, Chancellor Reed instructed each CSU president to draft, within the next two weeks, campus-specific budget reduction plans. Here at San Jose State, we expect up to a $40 million cut, a significant sum including our share of the systemwide deficit plus mandatory increases in health care, energy and similar expenses.
As I mentioned in my last budget update, we will not make this cut in a haphazard way. We must coordinate our work to build a strong foundation for the future. To that end, I proposed guiding principles, which we expanded to include specific strategies. You will find below links to the latest version of these principles, plus related information.
Because I know many of you are worried about how all this will affect you, your workload and your employment situation, I am committed to providing you with as much information as I can as soon as it is available. Meanwhile, please lend me your patience and support, and feel free to write with your questions, comments and concerns.
Sincerely,
Jon Whitmore
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