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Frequently Asked Questions (Part 2)

Posted November 3, 2009 / *Updated November 19, 2009

This second FAQ features more current information and will be updated on an ongoing basis as new information becomes available. Updates to this FAQ will be denoted by blue text and an asterisk (*).

NOTE: Part 1 of this FAQ, created June 9, 2009, and closed to changes October 20, 2009, may be accessed here.*


ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS? If you have a question that is not answered by this FAQ, you may submit your question to budgetnews@csun.edu. (We also encourage campus employees to consult and share their concerns with their supervisor, unit head, dean, or division vice president.) We cannot respond to individual questions at this time, but will update the FAQ as appropriate to ensure that the common concerns of campus community members are addressed.



STATE BUDGET FURLOUGH PROGRAM:


For details about the State Budget Furlough Program, please see the State Budget Furlough Program webpage and Implementation FAQs and the Faculty Furlough FAQs (PDF document) posted on the Faculty Affairs website.

Q: Will there be furloughs in 2010-11?

The furlough program was intended to be a one-year program for 2009-10. The program is in effect from July 1, 2009 - June 30, 2010. Any furloughs beyond June 30, 2010 (i.e., for the 2010-11 fiscal year) would need to be negotiated at the system level between the CSU and the various bargaining units. Such discussion would need to be initiated either by union leadership or by the Chancellor’s Office leadership. Furloughs cannot be imposed by either party unilaterally, and whether to have furloughs is not a decision made by individual campuses.

ENROLLMENT MANAGEMENT AND ADMISSIONS:


Q. Will enrollment targets at campuses be modified?

The CSU is funded by FTES enrollment. With funding reduced, enrollment targets are being reduced. At a special meeting of the Board of Trustees on July 7, 2009, it was announced that the CSU will look to reduce its student enrollment by 32,000 full-time equivalent students systemwide for 2010-11.

Cal State Northridge was subsequently informed that our enrollment target for 2010-11 will be 22,946 FTES, which represents a 10.8 percent decrease from our 2009-10 enrollment target of 25,733 FTES.

Q: Have there been any further decisions about limiting enrollment and admissions?

Yes. On July 7, 2009, the CSU Chancellor’s Office announced new enrollment controls in an effort to bring enrollment in line with available resources while assuring quality for admitted students. Specifically, the Chancellor’s Office instructed all CSU campuses to accept no admission applications for the 2010 Spring semester. Additionally, campuses on the quarter system were told to cease accepting applications for the 2010 Winter quarter and offer admission only to fully eligible applicants who had applied prior to July 6, 2009. The CSU is providing notice to prospective applicants on the CSU website and CSU Mentor.

Q: What is our enrollment plan for the coming academic years?

An enrollment management plan has been developed for 2010–11 and 2011–12.

THE STATE AND CSU BUDGETS, 2009–10 :

Q: I have heard that the CSU has received Federal Stimulus Funds and has allocated new funds to the campus for 2009–10? How much money did we get and what will it be used for?

The CSU received an additional $77.5 million in one-time federal stimulus dollars, making available trust dollars previously set aside to cover employee payroll. These funds are one-time only, and must be used in ways that do not create ongoing spending. Of the total, $52.5 million will be reserved by the CSU for use in the event of further budget cuts. The CSU has allocated the remaining $25 million to the campuses for additional course sections and student support services to help students make progress toward their degrees.

The Cal State Northridge allocation is $1.8 million. We are using these funds to add additional sections of courses students need to graduate, to address needs with S-Factor courses, for supplemental instruction, for the Center on Disabilities and National Center on Deafness for support of students with disabilities and students who are deaf or hard-of-hearing, and for academic advisement and support to students.

Q. How will Cal State Northridge deal with budget cutbacks?

We have already implemented changes such as the 2009-10 State Budget Furlough Program, reduced 2009-10 student enrollment, reduced summer session offerings, and reduced purchasing, hiring, and travel. We are also transitioning into budget and enrollment planning for 2010-11 and 2011-12 using alternative scenarios based on varying assumptions about future state and CSU budgets.

For 2009-10, the $41 million reduction is being met by the following:

The $7 million in reductions to the divisions (referenced above) are proportional to the overall budgets of each division. Each divisional vice president determines how to absorb his/her division’s share. The vice presidents anticipated budget reductions for 2009-10 and included potential cuts of at least this magnitude in their 2009-10 budget planning. Specifically, the $7 million total is apportioned as follows (all numbers approximate):

THE STATE AND CSU BUDGETS, 2010–11 and 2011–12:

Q: When will we know more about the 2010-11 budget?

The campus is planning now for the 2010-11 and 2011-12 budget years, but with incomplete information. We will get the first substantive information about the likely 2010-11 state budget in January 2010 with the Governor’s January budget projection. The January projection provides the starting point for the CSU’s budget planning process. It is typically a good indicator of where the CSU will end up at the conclusion of the budget deliberation process, but in actuality it is just the beginning. We then get more information with the Governor’s May revision based on updated and more accurate revenue projections. A finalized state budget, approved by the Legislature and signed by the Governor, is due in June. However, a budget agreement and finalized budget is often not reached until later in the summer or even in the fall.

In planning for 2010-11 and 2011-12 at Cal State Northridge, we are using a variety of budget scenarios with alternative assumptions and forecasts. We will revise these as we receive more certain information.

We already know that, at minimum, we will need to reduce our base budget for 2010-11 by the $19 million we achieved in savings from furloughs this year. We also know the Chancellor’s Office has reduced our campus enrollment target by 10.8%, and so we will have about $11 million less in revenue from student fees. We have developed an enrollment management plan to bring our enrollments down to these new targets.

It remains unknown whether the CSU, and in turn our campus, will receive additional budget cuts. We also do not know if the CSU Board of Trustees will again raise state university fees, and if they do, by what amount. (We do know that the Board of Trustees is asking the state to provide new money equivalent to a 10 percent fee increase. If that request is honored, it would almost offset the revenue reduction from our lowered enrollment.) So, both the amount of possible budget reduction from the state and the amount of possible new revenue from the state remain unknown. For this reason, the vice presidents are developing budget plans using a variety of assumptions and forecasts, and are looking at ways to reduce expenditures appropriate to their divisions under a variety of possible scenarios."

*At their November 17, 2009 meeting, the CSU Board of Trustees approved a 2010-11 budget proposal entitled “recover and reinvest” to be forwarded to the Governor and the Legislature. The proposal asks the state to restore funding for one-time cuts totaling $305 million; restore revenues outlined in the Higher Education Compact to provide for mandatory cost increases, enrollment growth and compensation increases ($185 million); “buy out” the equivalent of a 10 percent student fee increase for the 2010-11 academic year ($111 million); and provide $283 million of “Core Compact Recovery” that would have funded the CSU’s collective bargaining agreements for 2008-09 and 2009-10.

*MISCELLANEOUS:

*Q: More money has been taken out of my paycheck for state taxes. Why is this?

*Effective with checks paid after October 31, 2009, the state of California has increased the tax withholding rates by about 10 percent, in most cases reducing the take home pay of California taxpayers. This is not a tax increase, but rather, a method of collecting taxes earlier in the tax year. This change is for all California taxpayers and is not specifically related to your employment in the CSU system or at Cal State Northridge. If you pay too much tax because of the withholding changes, you will get the money back when you file your state tax return. If you owe tax, you will owe less because you paid in more during the year. If you wish to change your exemptions for federal or state taxes, you may complete an Employee Action Request form (STD 686).

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