February 12, 2008 Budget

TO: All Faculty and Staff
FROM: Sally Roush, Vice President, Business and Financial Affairs
Feb. 12, 2008

Budget Message #2

At its meeting in January, the California State University Board of Trustees heard a presentation on the governor's proposed budget for 2008/09 and its impact on the California State University. The impact remains the same as discussed in my previous budget message:

  • $213.6 million added to the CSU base budget
  • -$312.9 million reduced from the base
  • -------------------------------------------
  • -$99.3 million net reduction
  • -$114.5 million in unfunded mandates
  • -------------------------------------------
  • -$213.8 million negative budget consequence for the CSU

The Board of Trustees endorsed Chancellor Reed's recommendation that the CSU should vigorously seek restoration of the $312.9 million reduction, plus seek additional funding in the amount of $73.2 million to avoid the need for a 10% increase in the State University Fee paid by resident students. The CSU therefore will be seeking $386.1 million to be added to its base budget in 2008/09.

If the $386.1 million is restored to the CSU budget, the amount will be sufficient to fund enrollment growth and to cover the cost of the unfunded mandates including planned compensation increases. The chancellor and major CSU constituent groups have joined together to seek this funding.

At SDSU, we remain prepared to plan for the reduction described in my prior message, but hopeful that statewide efforts will be successful. The President's Budget Advisory Committee (PBAC) has had initial discussions, and will continue to discuss how to manage SDSU's share of the overall budget problem. Due to the need to plan now, fall enrollment at SDSU will be greatly reduced from the current year in order to ensure that we are reasonably able to provide adequate service to the students who are enrolled.

The SDSU Budget Central website contains the most recent general information about the budget, including messages from the chancellor. I encourage to you to refer to the Web site frequently to remain informed about the budget.