Budget forum held to address financial crisis
Laura Babbitt
Issue date: 12/14/09 Section: News
President Michael Claire directed attention beyond the immediate financial crisis in an all-college budget forum held Nov. 30.
After a $3.2 million, 11.3 percent cut for 2009-10, faculty, staff and administrators have spent the fall planning how to reduce the budget an additional $2.8 million or 11.1 percent next year.
Two administrative positions will be eliminated in 2010-11 to save $243,000, and up to $1.1 million in temporary class and program cuts have been identified.
"CSM built a $1.8 million ending balance (last year) in anticipation of massive cuts, said Claire. "We will end the year with a $1.1 million projected ending balance. We will use (those) one-time funds to get through this year and next."
"After that we really need to reshape the college to reflect our new fiscal reality," Claire said.
The state will further reduce CSM's funded enrollment cap, Claire said, so the college must begin planning for additional cuts in future years.
"We are going to have to make some hard decisions about what the college is going to be," he said.
Claire said he had "walked the hallways" and heard faculty within the same department disagreeing about what the college should look like.
"We've got a lot of decisions to make in the next year that are going to be permanent," he said.
The Academic Senate voted "consensus" on Nov. 24 for 2010-11 curriculum budget reductions negotiated by the senate and the administration.
Claire congratulated the Academic Senate for "getting us through a very emotional, difficult process."
"The final recommendations were better than the original list," he said, referring to the initial list of proposed recommendations for curriculum cuts prepared by the administration as a starting point for discussion.
"I want to thank the ad-hoc committee and all faculty for being engaged and staying collegial throughout the process," said Diana Bennett, president of the Academic Senate. "The faculty at CSM showed their commitment to providing the highest quality learning environment possible for the students in San Mateo County."
After a $3.2 million, 11.3 percent cut for 2009-10, faculty, staff and administrators have spent the fall planning how to reduce the budget an additional $2.8 million or 11.1 percent next year.
Two administrative positions will be eliminated in 2010-11 to save $243,000, and up to $1.1 million in temporary class and program cuts have been identified.
"CSM built a $1.8 million ending balance (last year) in anticipation of massive cuts, said Claire. "We will end the year with a $1.1 million projected ending balance. We will use (those) one-time funds to get through this year and next."
"After that we really need to reshape the college to reflect our new fiscal reality," Claire said.
The state will further reduce CSM's funded enrollment cap, Claire said, so the college must begin planning for additional cuts in future years.
"We are going to have to make some hard decisions about what the college is going to be," he said.
Claire said he had "walked the hallways" and heard faculty within the same department disagreeing about what the college should look like.
"We've got a lot of decisions to make in the next year that are going to be permanent," he said.
The Academic Senate voted "consensus" on Nov. 24 for 2010-11 curriculum budget reductions negotiated by the senate and the administration.
Claire congratulated the Academic Senate for "getting us through a very emotional, difficult process."
"The final recommendations were better than the original list," he said, referring to the initial list of proposed recommendations for curriculum cuts prepared by the administration as a starting point for discussion.
"I want to thank the ad-hoc committee and all faculty for being engaged and staying collegial throughout the process," said Diana Bennett, president of the Academic Senate. "The faculty at CSM showed their commitment to providing the highest quality learning environment possible for the students in San Mateo County."
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