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Higher
fees and lower enrollment lessen strain
on CSULB's budget
By
Elizabeth Eide
Online Forty-Niner
Contributing Writer
Cal
State Long Beach is decreasing enrollment
and increasing fees to preserve the quality
of instruction in spite of a $10 million
budget cut from the state.
According
to the Los Angeles Times, California University
State Chancellor Charles B. Reed said enrollment
reduction is "the only way to maintain
quality."
According
to the Division of Administration and Finance
at CSULB, enrollment has been reduced by
5 percent throughout the CSU system, leaving
CSULB with 800 fewer students compared to
last year.
Without
the fee increase, CSULB would have endured
a $20 million cut, according to Robyn Mack
of the Department of Budget and Human Relations
at CSULB and Resources Planning Process
(RPP) board member. Fees increased 14 percent
for undergraduates, 25 percent for graduates,
and 20 percent for out-of-state students.
Fortunately, fee increases resulted in grant
increases along with additional financial
aid for the neediest of students, Mack said.
Many
services on campus have been reduced to
reflect the budget cut. These include weekend
custodial and landscaping services, cashiers
and replacing various publications with
web accessibility.
Mack
said, "Monday through Friday is priority."
Students have to wait in longer lines at
windows at BH and in the library. To save
money on printing, students can print their
own syllabi and assignments at home. There
are fewer seasonal workers, assistants,
secretaries and student jobs, according
to Mack.
Faculty
must now pay for their own travel expenses
when they attend other campuses or conferences;
the university will no longer reimburse
them. Professors must also teach larger
classes because the university is not hiring
new professors to make up for the student
increase.
Craig
Smith, film department chair at CSULB, said,
"One of our retired professors has
not been replaced, and our operating and
equipment budget has been cut."
Additionally,
the shelf life of supplies and equipment
is being extended, meaning a computer might
be replaced every 7 years instead of every
5 years, according to Mack.
Fundraising
on campus is more aggressive and new groups,
businesses and alumni are being solicited.
The
RPP is the campus' budget advisory committee.
The CSULB task force is made up faculty,
staff, administrators and students. They
meet regularly to prepare the status report
on budget plans. RPP did not want to cut
student services, administration and finance
or the instructional program. Student services
were not cut because they will have to be
replaced next year. Instead, the university
withdrew from its temporary savings account
and applied the money where it was most
needed, according to Mack.
"It
buffered 25 percent of the budget cut,"
said Mack, who is an RPP board member.
Some
students accepted the budget cuts while
others challenged them. The Coalition of
CSU Long Beach Students to Save the CSU
is a newly formed student group. They called
for a walkout from classes on May 6, 2004
in opposition to the governor's budget cuts.
The walkout was supposed to be a continuation
of the rally held outside the governor's
Los Angeles office to protest the budget
cuts to the CSU system.
After
four years of budget cuts, Mack said there
is hope as next year there will be a budget
increase.
According
to the San Francisco Chronicle, UC President
Robert Dynes and Reed made an agreement
with Gov. Schwarzenegger that is finally
going to pay off. They promised to stay
out of last year's political battle to cut
university costs by turning away eligible
students.
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