For most anyone that has set foot on campus this year, it is known that SF State is in the midst of a crucial budget cut more threatening than anything proposed in over a decade.

But our university is not alone in this crisis, as other California State Universities are also struggling to find the best solution to their budget woes.

Governor Schwarzenegger’s proposed budget for the fiscal 2004/05 year dealt a whopping 9 percent cut to the CSU system, which totals $240 million dollars.

Each of the 23 CSUs will receive about a 9 percent cut to their allocated budget, according to the CSU public affairs office.

SF State, Fresno State and Stanislaus are the only state universities of 23 that have already made a formal announcement of their exact plan of action for dealing with the budget cut, said Clara Potes-Fellow, the CSU spokesperson for public affairs.

Some campuses, such as Long Beach State, are waiting for the governor’s May budget revision to make any final decisions, said Toni Beron, the Long Beach State vice president of public affairs.

“We are in the midst of a ‘Resource Planning Process,’ we have a task force made up of faculty, administration and students to look at the budget and figure out how to handle the reduction. But the process is not complete,” said Beron.

Although each campus will have differing approaches to dealing with the cuts, tuition will increase and enrollment will decrease across the board.

“This is the first time that not all students who are eligible will be admitted into the CSU system. They will be encouraged to first complete 60 units in a community college after which they will be guaranteed admission. Some students will be very disappointed because they will not have the experience of going to a four-year college and living on campus,” said Potes-Fellow.

The CSU system has projected a zero enrollment growth for the 2004/05 academic year. At Sonoma State 2,000 qualified students were denied admission for the fall semester.

Although Sonoma State has not yet formally announced their budget plans, they are trying to preserve as many classes as possible and unlike SF State, planning to not discontinue any programs.

“We are going about it a different way than SF State. We are going to make smaller reductions all the way across the board rather than vertically. Instead of 2 or 3 sections we will have one. This slows down the graduation process but it has to be done,” said Lynn McIntyre, Sonoma State Vice President of University Affairs.

Stanislaus University has announced fewer classes, earlier cut-off dates, larger classe sizes, more selective admissions, reduced support services and programs, and deferred maintenance. Besides the enrollment and faculty cuts, the university will also shorten office hours and reduce services such as advising, tutoring, shuttles and custodial work, according to the CSU Stanislaus Newsline.

Stanislaus has given layoff notices to nine permanent staff members and 28 temporary positions will not be re-filled next school year. Chico State is anticipating a five percent cut in faculty, while San Jose State is trying to avoid any lay-offs.