By Katelin Paiz
Daily Titan Staff Writer

Chancellor Charles B. Reed announced Tuesday that the California State University plans to ask the state for $884 million above the current general fund level for 2010-11. The budget proposal will go to the Board of Trustees next week for a vote.

CSU Chancellor Charles B. Reed

The $884 million would include the restoration of $308 million in one-time cuts that were instituted in 2009-2010, and $587 million for “mandatory cost increases, enrollment growth, compensation increases, and a restoration of the revenues that would have been part of the Compact funding for higher education,” states a CSU press release.

“Will we get all that? No,” Reed said. “But I think that we need to ask for it. We need to talk about investing in students, investing in California’s future and asking the governor and the legislature to make higher education a much higher priority.”

CSU is dealing with a $564 million budget cut for this fiscal year. In an effort to balance the amount of money being received from the government and the number of students it can support on a crippled budget, CSU has been forced to cut enrollment by 4,000 students in the fall and is expected to meet its 10,000 student reduction by next spring.

 In all, Reed said, CSU needs to reduce enrollment by 40,000 to match student enrollment with state funding.

“Denying students access to higher education is just about one of the worst things you can do in a recession,” Reed said. “The state needs our graduates to enter the workforce and help the state’s economic recovery. But, when your budget is cut so drastically, we are left with little choice but to restrict our enrollment.”

As of Monday, Reed said, CSU’s have received more than 266,000 applications, a 53 percent increase from the same time last year. That includes a 32 percent increase in freshman applications and a 127 percent increase in transfer applications.

 In an effort to sift through the mounds of applications, Reed said that CSU would be especially observant of the application deadline of Nov. 30, and will be raising the criteria for incoming students.

“There is a one-to-one relationship between the amount of money you have and the number of students you can educate. And one of the things we have to guarantee is quality.” Reed said. 

Reed has been in hot water with many of CSU’s faculty, staff and students.

Many people, most notably the California Faculty Association, have accused Reed of not fighting hard enough for funds from Sacramento.

“We really think we need strong advocacy by the board of trustees and the chancellor, and unfortunately that hasn’t happened,” Kim Geron, vice president for CFA, has said.

In response to the 79 percent vote of “no confidence” in his leadership that he received from a ballot voted on by the members of the CFA, Reed said that he has not felt “one ounce of pressure.”

Reed added that the act of putting the question on the same ballot as whether faculty should accept furlough days was, “just an old labor trick,” adding, “they were trying to send a message … but you know what? We saved thousands of jobs, we kept people’s health care in place and retirement. So, I can tell you that I’m glad we were able to do that.”