Students, staff, professors, administrators, and alumni will gather at 11 a.m. on Wednesday, March 19 at California State University, Stanislaus for a Budget Advocacy Summit. Members of the media are welcome to attend the Summit, which will be held in Room 130 of the Mary Stuart Rogers Educational Services Building at CSU Stanislaus, One University Circle, Turlock.
The summit speakers will highlight the negative impacts that the Governor's proposed budget cut of $312.9 million for 2008/09 would have on the California State University's 23-campus system. The proposed budget cut comes only three years after the CSU budget was reduced by more than $500 million during the 2002-03 and 2004-05 fiscal years. In addition, the $73.2 million in General Fund revenue needed to buy out a student fee increase is not included in this year's proposed budget. The Budget Advocacy Summit is part of a systemwide effort to detail the impacts to local campuses and to encourage the entire CSU community to urge lawmakers and the governor to restore the funding.
CSU Stanislaus President Hamid Shirvani said the reduction would directly impact student access in the form of limits on enrollment, larger class sizes, less student support, and potentially higher student fees. System-wide, the CSU estimates that the proposed reduction will reduce access by 10,000 students and limit enrollment to 2007/08 levels.
"The CSU still hasn't recovered from previous budget cuts, and all of the gains that we have made to increasing enrollment in recent years, particularly for students from underserved communities, will be devastated by another round of severe budget cuts," President Shirvani said.
Of particular concern for CSU Stanislaus is its leading role in graduating many of the state's teachers, nurses, law enforcement officers, specialists in the business field, and other skilled employees critical to California's economy. Demand for new teachers in the growing San Joaquin Valley continues to be high, and the California Board of Registered Nursing forecasted that the state faces a registered nurse (RN) shortage of up to 59,000 full-time equivalent RNs in 2007, including a deficit of 3,200 in the Central California region. A recent report indicates that every region in California will face a shortage of registered nurses by 2012 and that the statewide shortage will nearly double by 2030.
CSU Stanislaus provides an important contribution to the California economy, awarding nearly 2,000 degrees each year to graduates who go on to succeed in the working world.
"During the previous budget reductions, we made every effort to make necessary cuts away from the classroom," President Shirvani said. "There's no place left to cut without turning away thousands of qualified students and limiting course options for current students."
Speakers at the Budget Advocacy Summit will include administrators, union leaders, and alumni who are expected to encourage attendees to join a CSU-wide grassroots effort to make phone calls and send e-mails to elected officials, stressing the CSU's value to the economy and the need to restore the budget cuts.
"The message we need to send to lawmakers and the Governor is, 'CSU is the solution,'" President Shirvani said, noting that the CSU generates $4.41 in economic activity for every dollar invested. "Before any final budget decisions are made, we need to make sure state leaders understand that a $300 million reduction in CSU funding translates into a loss of $1 billion in future economic activity in California."
www.csustan.edu/budget
The summit speakers will highlight the negative impacts that the Governor's proposed budget cut of $312.9 million for 2008/09 would have on the California State University's 23-campus system. The proposed budget cut comes only three years after the CSU budget was reduced by more than $500 million during the 2002-03 and 2004-05 fiscal years. In addition, the $73.2 million in General Fund revenue needed to buy out a student fee increase is not included in this year's proposed budget. The Budget Advocacy Summit is part of a systemwide effort to detail the impacts to local campuses and to encourage the entire CSU community to urge lawmakers and the governor to restore the funding.
CSU Stanislaus President Hamid Shirvani said the reduction would directly impact student access in the form of limits on enrollment, larger class sizes, less student support, and potentially higher student fees. System-wide, the CSU estimates that the proposed reduction will reduce access by 10,000 students and limit enrollment to 2007/08 levels.
"The CSU still hasn't recovered from previous budget cuts, and all of the gains that we have made to increasing enrollment in recent years, particularly for students from underserved communities, will be devastated by another round of severe budget cuts," President Shirvani said.
Of particular concern for CSU Stanislaus is its leading role in graduating many of the state's teachers, nurses, law enforcement officers, specialists in the business field, and other skilled employees critical to California's economy. Demand for new teachers in the growing San Joaquin Valley continues to be high, and the California Board of Registered Nursing forecasted that the state faces a registered nurse (RN) shortage of up to 59,000 full-time equivalent RNs in 2007, including a deficit of 3,200 in the Central California region. A recent report indicates that every region in California will face a shortage of registered nurses by 2012 and that the statewide shortage will nearly double by 2030.
CSU Stanislaus provides an important contribution to the California economy, awarding nearly 2,000 degrees each year to graduates who go on to succeed in the working world.
"During the previous budget reductions, we made every effort to make necessary cuts away from the classroom," President Shirvani said. "There's no place left to cut without turning away thousands of qualified students and limiting course options for current students."
Speakers at the Budget Advocacy Summit will include administrators, union leaders, and alumni who are expected to encourage attendees to join a CSU-wide grassroots effort to make phone calls and send e-mails to elected officials, stressing the CSU's value to the economy and the need to restore the budget cuts.
"The message we need to send to lawmakers and the Governor is, 'CSU is the solution,'" President Shirvani said, noting that the CSU generates $4.41 in economic activity for every dollar invested. "Before any final budget decisions are made, we need to make sure state leaders understand that a $300 million reduction in CSU funding translates into a loss of $1 billion in future economic activity in California."
www.csustan.edu/budget