CSU Board Prepares for Cuts, Approves Pay Raises

Tuition hikes were one topic of discussion at a California State University meeting held Tuesday in Long Beach in preparation of a scenario in which Gov. Jerry Brown’s proposed tax initiatives fail to pass.  

At the same time, the CSU Board of Trustees approved a pay increase for three campus presidents, reported ABC-7 News, a contentious decision amid talks of possible budget cuts that may seriously affect students and faculty alike. 

The presidential pay raise issue has drawn the ire of campus groups and the California Faculty Association, which blasted the university for providing pay hikes at a time of deep budget cuts and rising tuition. The salary packages still need the approval of the full Board of Trustees, which was expected to take up the issue later today during the panel's two-day series of meetings in Long Beach.

``It is ridiculous that every two months students and faculty have to come to Long Beach and ask the system's leaders not to give themselves a raise at the expense of quality higher education,'' said Kim Geron, vice president of the California Faculty Association. ``The trustees and administration seem absolutely tone deaf.''

The meeting of university leaders comes one week after it was announced that Governor Brown’s tax initiatives would be taking the top slot on the upcoming November ballot.  

Preferential placement on the ballot is no guarantee that it will pass, however, and universities are preparing for a $250 million cut in funding in case it doesn’t. Since voting takes place a few months after the 2012 school year begins, budgets for CSU's 23 campuses are being planned amid uncertainty.

If tax increases aren’t approved by voters in the fall, several options are on the table, including a mid-year tuition increase of $150 per semester, according to an article in the L.A. Times (read more here…)

--City News Service contributed to this report.