After weeks of tension, President Alexander Gonzalez, administrators and the Faculty Senate have reached an agreement concerning task force expectations and members to oversee the university budget.

While Gonzalez was originally praised for his quick response to the Senate’s request for a budget-based task force, his actions soon came under fire.

Immediate Past President of Sacramento State’s Chapter of the California Faculty Association James Chopyak said he believes Gonzalez acted without thinking when he picked potential task force members without consent from the Senate.

“Clearly, the Faculty Senate should determine who is on the task force,” Chopak said. “It’s ridiculous for him to think that he can appoint these people himself.”

But lecturer Bob Buckley said that he can’t remember a campus president that ever responded so quickly to anything, adding that although Gonzalez was criticized for choosing potential task force members, it was actually a mistake made by the Faculty Senate that caused the problem.

“We screwed up,” Buckley said. “We got so wrapped up in the idea of recommending the task force that we didn’t include specifics about what our actual (expectations and demands) were.”

The Faculty Senate met Thursday to discuss Gonzalez’s previous picks and to formally recommend seven of its own members, four of which were on Gonzalez’s original list.

Those chosen include Senate Executive Committee member Tom Krabacher, Senate Vice Chair James Sobredo, Economics Associate Professor Stephen Perez, History Professor Chris Castaneda, Mathematics Professor Scott Farrand and senators Laureen O’Hanlon and Karen Davis-O’Hara.

“I feel honored, both by the nomination and the endorsement of the Senate,” Davis-O’Hara said. “I feel like they put a lot of trust in us and that this is a very important task that must be taken very seriously.”

Davis-O’Hara said the real duties of the task force will be fact-finding and helping others understand the budget.

“I personally hope we can find the answers we are looking for,” Davis-O’Hara said. “(I also hope) that these answers will lead to an open and clear discussion with the campus community on how to deal with the budget problems.”

Vice President of Human Resources David Wagner said the additional task force members have already been chosen and include a college dean, a college associate dean, one representative from student affairs, one staff member and one student.

With the first step of establishing a task force, the Faculty Senate and Gonzalez have turned their attention toward charge.

According to a Senate resolution, the Senate expects the budget task force to operate in a transparent manner and to fully disclose all necessary budgetary information to both the faculty and the university community. That same resolution goes on to say that meetings should be open to the public with meeting times and locations posted in advance.

The resolution also states that the task force should account for all revenues, university expenses and mandatory benefit costs incurred over the past four years.

Other responsibilities of the task force will include providing an assessment on whether a structural deficit exists, identifying the reasons for significant increases and decreases in line item allocations, addressing additional questions and providing a final report to the senate early in the spring 2007 semester.

With the help of what seems to be an open dialogue between faculty senate members and the administration, Sac State’s first budgetary task force is well on its way.

“We had hoped for an earlier start so the task force could have met several times before the end of the semester,” Wagner said. “(Now) with where we are in the semester we’re not sure how many times the task force can meet before January.”

Wagner said he sees the task force as the beginning of a new openness on campus – openness to not only discuss the budget process, but also to educate and inform more members of the campus community, including senators, faculty members and students, on budget matters, he said.

Ashley Evans can be reached at [email protected].