Budget priorities, accountability, and wishing you rest this Fall Break
RSVP for our end-of-semester celebration
Dear Colleagues,
I want to share a timely update. You may have already heard that the CSU Board of Trustees has just approved increases to the salary base for campus presidents. This speaks volumes at a moment when faculty, staff, and students continue to face shrinking resources, growing workloads, increasing course caps, and threats to the quality of our public university mission!
In response, faculty leaders worked with CFA staff to come up with a number of pointed questions for the Chief Financial Officer, Claudio Lindow, to answer at the next Academic Senate. We are pressing for clarity, accountability, and a budget that reflects our values and our students’ needs in the #1 university for upward mobility. Here are some of the questions faculty entered into the record this past week in Academic Senate:
What is the state of reserves on this campus? How do you plan to use it?
How likely is it that campus management will rely on external consultants rather than the expertise of faculty members in managing the impact of financial troubles?
What happens to our department and college outlooks when the CSU’s central administration secures back funding for Cal State LA?
How much is spent on student retention vs. student recruitment? Has that equation changed over the years?
How does investment in PaGE affect statewide student-faculty ratio and course availability in each impacted department and college?
What happens when PaGE actually generates money? How much money do they need to generate before stateside departments and programs can operate without restrictions again?
How much is spent on hiring COO and new Vice Provost? Why were those hires greenlit when Financial Aid is half-staffed and Article 39 layoffs haven’t been taken off the table?
In Fall 2025, has Cal State LA’s actual tuition and fee revenue matched what’s in the systemwide Budget Allocation Memo? It looks like Cal State LA’s tuition and fee revenue is up $8M from last year (see column 8 of the linked memo).
What does Cal State LA plan to do with $5.9M from the Total Return Portfolio which can only be used for non-recurring maintenance and repair?
What does Cal State LA plan to do with the $7.4M from the Liquidity portfolio which can go toward operating costs? How will these be spent? How do they account for our overall financial outlook for the upcoming years?
How will the campus engage with faculty, staff and students to decide how to allocate the one-time, zero-interest loan from the state?
What is the rationale for the pay-first rule? What is the financial reason to require students to pay their full tuition before registering in courses? What is the financial impact to the campus as a standard operating procedure?
How many students use credit cards to pay their tuition?
Will senior executives on this campus refuse the “up to 15% increase” to their base salary?
What are the budget priorities, specifically toward environmental and financial sustainability, for the campus?
What is the status of housing on campus? What percentage of campus dorms and units are filled? Can we utilize vacant spaces to rent to faculty and staff for affordable and local housing options?
What happened to the $3M+ that was supposed to go to the College of Ethnic Studies from AB1468 funding that added an Ethnic Studies course requirement to all CSUs?
Teacher credential students pay a higher rate than other undergrad students, yet the college is given the same amount. Where does the difference go?
Next Steps
Academic Senate meeting 12/2
We look forward to CFO Lindow’s response to the above questions at the next Academic Senate meeting, scheduled for Tuesday, December 2nd at 1:45 PM in the Golden Eagle Ballroom 3. Please join us to learn more about our university finances!
Workload Grievance
Also, if you’re experiencing workload creep, increased course sizes at Cal State LA, or any other faculty rights issue, you should contact Marcelle Alvarado (malvarado@calfac.org) or Molly Talcott (mtalcott@calfac.org) ASAP.
Faculty Celebration
Finally, I would like to invite you to our end-of-semester celebration on 12/4 at 4:30 PM. Food, drinks and great company included! Please register for accurate reservations and food counts.
Even in this moment of unjust juxtapositions, I remain hopeful in our own power as faculty, staff, and students united in principled resistance. As we move into Fall Break, I hope you are able to rest, disconnect, and care for yourselves. You deserve restoration as much as you deserve respect!
In solidarity and gratitude,
Akhila Ananth
President