October 1, 2009 Budget
TO: All SDSU Employees
FROM: Sally Roush, Vice President of Business and Financial Affairs
October 1, 2009
Budget Update #21
As the first month of the fall semester comes to a close, I want to update you on the status of SDSU’s budget, and provide some early information about the 2010/11 CSU Budget Request.
Many questions persist about furlough. Most of our faculty and staff have taken their first furlough days. Staff members and 12-month faculty have already received their first paychecks affected by the furlough; academic-year faculty received their first reduced paychecks on October 1.
We estimate SDSU will generate approximately $15 million in furlough savings through June 2010, all of which will remain in the division or college where the savings occur. Furlough savings will be used to continue 189 temporary staff employees through the end of the fall semester. Projected furlough savings have already been used to add 608 course sections back into the fall schedule, which means that approximately 150 lecturers were rehired or had their time base increased. Furlough savings will also be used to employ enough lecturers in the spring semester to offer a complete class schedule.
Remaining furlough savings held in divisions and colleges will be available in case of a 2009-10 mid-year budget cut, which could come as early as January. If there is no mid-year cut, the furlough savings will be available to keep temporary employees working as long as the funds last or may be used to pay employees who may be required to work on an emergency assignment on their furlough day.
It is important to remember that furlough money is one-time in nature and therefore is only available for temporary uses. As state revenue continues to be down and one-time federal stimulus funds are filling the CSU budget gap for 2009-10, it is probable that we will see a challenging budget reduction again in 2010-11. We anticipate that any remaining furlough savings will help mitigate the loss of jobs resulting from a possible budget cut next year.
SDSU remains fiscally disciplined in its actions and believes use of the furlough money in these ways will help provide more stability in the coming year. The President’s Budget Advisory Committee will meet on October 1 to review this information as well as to receive final information on tuition and fee revenue actual receipts compared against budget estimates.
Another result of the state budget is the accompanying enrollment reductions. SDSU is required to decrease enrollment by 4,600 students over the 2009-10 and 2010-11 academic year (that number includes the planned reduction of approximately 1,850 this year). In order to accomplish this, SDSU had to make some difficult decisions regarding its admissions policies. Detailed information about the changes to SDSU’s admission policy is available at www.sdsu.edu/enrollmentinfo.
At its meeting on September 22, the CSU Board of Trustees received information on budget issues for 2010-11. It was noted that “the consensus of State fiscal experts is that 2010-11 will be another year of great difficulty.” However, the Trustees reviewed a preliminary budget framework that outlines funds necessary to restore stability and a reasonable financial foundation to the CSU. The presentation identified $882 million as necessary increased state support in 2010-11. This includes restoration of cuts and funding for mandatory costs and salary increases. The Trustees will receive a formal budget proposal for action at their November 2009 meeting.
Needless to say, these budget cuts are extremely difficult to manage. We continue to do all that we can to ensure the university’s stability and progress. I very much appreciate all the hard work being done at San Diego State in spite of the budget challenges we all face.