The CSU Board of Trustees will not make a decision on a fee increase as scheduled at their meeting Wednesday in Long Beach.

A decision on the amount of the increase will be held off until the summer, according to CSU Chancellor Charles B. Reed. The delay is due to the uncertainty of the state budget situation still circling over the Capitol.

Gov. Gray Davis is expected to release his revised budget Wednesday, the same day the Trustees were to make a decision.

Reed said the Trustees would rather only make one increase, instead of making one now and another should the situation worsen through the summer.

“We want to be able to give our students and their families enough time for financial planning for next year, and a single action seems the best and clearest way to do that,” Reed said.

However, Reed did state that a full budget and fee discussion could still occur since many students will be away from the campuses during summer.

The California State Student Association, the legislative body for CSU students, has organized a bus trip for any interested students to the Long Beach meeting. The students left Tuesday to rally against the fee increases.

According to ASI President-elect Peter Ucovich, as of Monday, CSSA was still “intending to hold a rally.”

“This is last-minute maneuvering to disenfranchise students from the process,” Ucovich said. “The rally will not have as strong of an impact now.”

Ucovich said another rally will be held when the Trustees meet to vote on the fee increase.

The current Trustee proposal would raise fees 25 percent for CSU students next fall. That proposal has been taken off the table in lieu of a new one, which will come at either the June or July Trustee meetings, according to Reed.

“It is never pleasant to raise student fees, but if we are to continue to provide access to California’s students, they must increase,” Reed said.

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