Sacramento State students can expect increased class sizes next semester as a result of the newly released 2006-07 university budget, said Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs Joe Sheley at a university town hall meeting on Oct. 18.

The new budget will mandate at least 2 percent permanent reductions from the university’s $197 million general fund each year for the next three years. These reductions will most likely result to larger classes, fewer temporary faculty positions and cuts in operating expenses such as office supplies, class handouts and phone calls.

But university officials say the cuts, which are exclusive to Sac State, will not lead to tuition increases.

“In this case, where our shortfall is campus-specific, there shouldn’t be an effect on student fees,” President Alexander Gonzalez said in an e-mail.

Associate Vice President of Public Affairs Frank Whitlatch said the cuts only pertain to Sac State and that since tuition is set at the California State University system-wide level, there will not be an increase in tuition.

The reduction, which has already taken $2.2 million from Sac State’s budget, resulted from low student enrollment figures, Whitlatch said.

The university has missed its enrollment target, which is set by the CSU board of trustees, for the last three years, resulting in less revenue from student fees.

In addition, Sac State has lost student fee revenue as non-resident students become permanent California residents and no longer have to pay the higher tuition they did as non-resident students.

“The hope was that enrollment would come back up, but it didn’t,” Whitlatch said.

Because most of the university felt this downward trend would not continue, it did not adjust its spending practices, Whitlatch said.

He added that many of Sac State’s eight colleges made up for the difference between revenue coming in and expenses by spending discretionary money, a type of savings account consisting of carry-over money from previous years.

Now that the carry-over money available to the various colleges is dwindling or gone, Sheley and Gonzalez are tightening the university’s belt to create a balanced budget in order to rebuild these discretionary accounts.

“In the end, it’s a 6 percent reduction over three years,” Sheley said. Although this figure adds up to $6.5 million campus-wide, each college has to cut a different amount based on the amount of discretionary money it used over the past three years, so each dean is facing different challenges.

“For us it’s not a catastrophe,” said Marilyn Hopkins, dean of the College of Health and Human Services, which has already implemented cuts of its own over the past three years to keep up with the drop-in student fee revenue.

Hopkins said to prepare for the current round of reductions, her college will examine its classes and ask, “Do students need these to graduate, or are these ‘extra things?'”

The department may eliminate electives or classes with low enrollment, increase class sizes and will closely monitor operating expenses such as office supplies and phone calls.

“We’re going to take it one year at a time and not panic,” Hopkins said.

Larger classes would mean an increased workload for faculty, many of who are already unhappy with their working conditions.

Faculty members said that increased class sizes will seriously impact the quality of education that Sac State students will be able to receive.

“Individual attention of faculty to students will go down,” said Kevin Wehr, an assistant professor of sociology.

Wehr said this is not the first time changes made by the administration have affected the quality of Sac State’s classes.

“The quality of education has dropped in the four years that I have been here,” Wehr said.

As temporary faculty positions are eliminated, some of the university’s colleges begin to feel its impact.

“Some of our faculty searches have been eliminated,” said Laurel Heffernan, interim dean of the College of Natural Sciences and Math.

“We never have enough staff, but we’re making do,” Heffernan said.

“The faculty and students that make this place are getting shafted by the chancellor and trustees,” said Bob Metcalf, a professor of biological sciences. Metcalf said when he looks at all of the “monstrous” construction projects on campus he sees money that could be used for better classrooms, or more faculty.

But Gonzalez said it is impossible to use construction project funds for the cause Metcalf is proposing. Gonzalez said money for the general fund and construction “come in on different lines” and “cannot be moved” at the town hall meeting.

Much of the money given to Sac State by California has a set purpose because it comes from bonds, which are approved by voters for a specific use, Whitlatch said.

Faculty have questioned whether Sac State’s administration and CSU Chancellor Charles Reed have done enough to convince the Legislature to allocate money to the school for academic purposes.

“Where has (President) Gonzalez been in pleading with the (CSU) trustees and pleading with the chancellor that we need more resources than the 3 percent compact (with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger) will provide?” Metcalf asked.

“It’s the job of the administration to get the resources to the campus,” Metcalf said, “It’s not our job.”

Whitlatch said this is an incorrect assumption.

“The CSU system is always working very hard to get new money,” Whitlatch said, who added that it is difficult for the CSU system to obtain funds from the state Legislature because of the sheer number of projects the Legislature has to fund.

“The budget is not adequate, yet we have no choice but to work with what we have been allocated,” Gonzalez said in an e-mail. “The provost and I will continue to press for more funding, but that will come from the governor and Legislature.”

Faculty members have raised concerns over the gap between the salaries of faculty and administration at Sac State. The cuts in the university’s budget will likely leave very little flexibility for faculty pay increases, which are currently the subject of a debate between the CSU system and the California Faculty Association bargaining team.

Wehr said the average starting salary for a faculty member at Sac State is around $50,000. According to the official CSU website, President Gonzalez makes a yearly salary of $255,024, not including the automobile allowance and $60,000 housing allowance he receives.

Wehr said he did not think Gonzalez was worth “five faculty members.”

Gonzalez said the new budget does not favor one department over another.

“All units are taking reductions that are equitable based on their allocation,” Gonzalez said in an e-mail. “My office is included,” he added.

This year the permanent reductions for the Office of the President was 1.3 percent, while the budget for Academic Affairs was reduced 1.5 percent.

Cody Kitaura can be reached at [email protected]