Students and faculty fight high fees
Students and faculty groups have started a letter-writing campaign
petitioning Gov. Schwaznegger to stop futher tuition fees increases
By JENNA NIELSEN
Tuition fees are going up again, but not if the California Faculty Association
can help it.
Gov. Schwarzenegger released his 2005-06 budget proposal and, if passed,
tuition will increase 8 percent for undergraduates and 10 percent for
graduates next semester.
Robert Merrill, president of the California Faculty Association
at Fresno State, said students are not getting the quality of education
they're paying for. Photo by Joseph Hollak |
The CFA is trying to prevent the fee hike, and they want to put a moratorium
on fee increases.
“The proposed budget doesn’t provide enough funding to address
what has been happening the past several years,” CFA president and
Humboldt State professor John Travis said in a telephone interview.
“More is needed to rebuild the CSU, and CFA doesn’t want
to see these tremendous budget reductions happen next year,” Travis
said.
Though the budget honors the “Compact on Higher Education”
agreed upon by the governor and CSU Chancellor Charles Reed in May 2004,
the California Faculty Association says it’s not enough.
According to the CFA Web site, in agreeing to the compact, Reed agreed
to accept cuts in the 2004-05 budget in exchange for a non-binding agreement
that funding would be gradually restored to the CSU system in the future.
The CFA is arguing that the compact agreement and the proposed budget
will not provide enough funding to restore the affordability and accessibility
of the CSUs.
“In the last two years, the CSUs’ general fund has seen a
reduction of $500 million,” Travis said. “More than 15,000
eligible students were turned away from CSU campuses last year, and at
the same time, faculty workloads are getting heavier and class size is
growing.”
According to the CFA Web site, fees have been increasing steadily since
2002, and by fall 2005, on average, undergraduate fees will be $1,092
more than they were four years ago. Graduate fees will be $1,596 more.
Also according to the Web site, it will be years before state funding
will be restored to the 2002-03 level, and the quality of a CSU education
is being seriously threatened by the funding crisis.
Fresno State CFA president and geology professor Robert Merrill said CFA
has consistently fought for higher access and low fees so that educational
opportunity is available for qualified students. Merrill said the budget
cuts have caused increased class size and faculty workload, and the quality
of education and meeting time with students has declined.
“As a student, I don’t think you are getting what you’re
paying your money for,” Merrill said. “There used to be a
public that helped higher education and we need to restore that.”
Students are also getting involved in the fight to halt fee increases
by initiating a letter-writing campaign to the governor.
CFA student intern Liza Bolanos said CFA wants students to tell their
personal stories about how the budget cuts have affected them. The handwritten
letters will be submitted to the governor as they are received.
“The stories are out there,” Bolanos said. “They just
need to reach the ears and hearts of the legislature.”
Andres Fierro, also involved in the campaign, has walked around to classrooms
presenting the petition form, hoping students will fill it.
“The budget cuts are affecting all of us,” Fierro said. “Together,
we can make a difference.”
International student representative Juan Pablo Moncayo said he was happy
CFA and students are fighting the fee increases.
When it comes to international students, however, Moncayo said it isn’t
so much if fees are raised, but when and how.
“When they increase fees, they don’t give us sufficient time
to plan ahead,” Moncayo said.
He said students are not given any notice and normally have to pay the
increases right away.
“No bank takes care of us,” Moncayo said. “We need time
to plan for it.”
CFA plans to take its fight to the legislature before the governor’s
budget is revised in May.They hope their lobbying efforts and legislative
campaigns will make an impact on the budget revision.
“Things will get worse until the public sees the quality of life
we depend on depends on education,” Merrill said.
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