Fresno State President John Welty said if there is a $200 million cut in
CSU budget, Fresno State will be forced to make permanent reductions for
the 2013-14 academic year. Roughly $12.5 million will be cut from the
seven divisions shown above.
Infographic courtesy of University Communications

After the recent news of a possible $200 million cut in the CSU budget, Fresno State President John Welty stood before university staff and faculty at Thursday’s Budget Update to discuss the changes Fresno State will face in the coming months.

“Over the past four years, California has been in a prolonged period of difficult budget downturns that have completely changed the fiscal landscape,” Welty said. “The new normal for Fresno State has resulted in a markedly different funding model.”

Although there may be further changes, Welty said that there will be several that will take place as soon as fall 2012.

Along with not admitting students for the 2013 spring semester and wait-listing all applicants for the fall 2013 semester, students registering for fall 2012 courses will only be allowed to enroll for 16 units.

Welty said that Gov. Jerry Brown has proposed there be no further reductions in budget assuming that his tax initiative passes.

“We know its basic provisions are increased revenues through a combination of sales and income tax increases,” Welty said.

Welty told faculty members to plan for next year with the assumption they would have the same amount of funding as this year and also asked faculty for a favor:

“If you haven’t registered to vote, please do so and urge students in your classes to vote,” Welty said. “November’s election will be extremely important for our future.”

If Brown’s proposed tax initiative isn’t passed in November, Fresno State could be out $12.6 million for the 2013-14 academic year and have to turn down 800 or more applicants.

Funding would be cut from different divisions within Academic Affairs, Student Affairs, Administrative Services, Plant Operations, Technology, the President’s Office and Athletics.

Welty said that decisions will have to be made next spring, which could also lead to employment actions.

“It is premature to provide exact information,” Welty said.

Despite talk of university officials getting pay raises, Welty was critical of the assumptions.

“First of all I think the media should get it right,” Welty said. “The board adopted a policy over a month ago in which they essentially said that they would compensate a president more than 10 percent above the incumbent president.”

Welty said that amount is still well below the averages compared to across the country.

“Our board is facing a difficult task of trying to recruit presidents, and unfortunately the timing is not good.”

Welty is hopeful that if students, faculty and staff collaborate together and share the workload, fiscal challenges will be met.

“I hope we can continue to foster the sense of community that our campus is known for,” Welty said. “Working together and caring for each other is what has carried Fresno State through good times and challenges throughout our history.”