California State University students are once again facing the prospect of a 10 percent fee increase, after receiving a reprieve last year.

Last Thursday, California Faculty Association President Lillian Taiz, CFA Vice President Kim Geron and CFA Communications Director Alice Sunshine held a conference call. During the call they discussed the budget problems that continue to plague the CSU system and what actions they think the CSU Board of Trustees will take.

Ever since student fee increases were implemented in 2003, the cost of tuition has gone up almost 100 percent, Geron said.

Taiz said the CSU’s budget continues to be less than it was five years ago.

“Back in 2002, our budget took a half billion dollar hit,” Taiz said. “Here we are in 2007 and we still haven’t been able to recover.”

A fee increase was averted last year through a fee buyout, when the governor added $54.4 million to the CSU 2006-07 budget, said Sunshine. She said a buyout might be proposed by the Trustees for this year, too.

Taiz said only the Trustees can approve student fee increases.

Geron said most legislature members oppose the fee increases but “say their hands are tied because they are being told by the CSU administration that this is the budget we need.” He said the CSU system is enrolling more students but not asking for the funding needed to support them.

Taiz said that with overflowing classrooms and canceled classes students are “paying more and getting less.”

Junior art major Carrie Rafael said one of her classes had nearly 100 people and the professor “didn’t know half the names.” She said she had to sit in one class for two weeks before being added, while other students didn’t get in at all.

Junior theatre and dance major Deoreen Hamlet said that while she has a fee waiver and wouldn’t be seriously affected by the fee increase she sympathizes with those that aren’t so lucky.

“I understand how it would be difficult for other students,” she said.

The Trustees will hold their first meeting today and tomorrow.

According to their agenda, they will have a discussion about executive compensation at 8 a.m. today.

The CFA expects that another executive pay raise will be proposed.

“This is the very first meeting of the year and their very first order of business is raising their own pay,” Taiz said.

Last semester, Rafael said she worked full time while being a full-time student.

“It was hard,” she said. “What will the pay raise do to help students? How will it help the faculty?”

She said that if the fee raise goes through she’ll have to work more.

Assembly Bill 1413 and Senate Bill 190 are awaiting approval by the governor. AB 1413 will allow the governor and the legislature to appoint representatives to sit in on Trustee meetings. SB 190 will require that, when the Trustees meet to propose raising executive pay, their meeting shall be open to the public.

In the conference call, Taiz said it “seems interesting that they’re pushing this fee through as the bill itself sits on the governors desk.”

“If they can’t figure out that this is inappropriate to do at this moment, they need to have more oversight,” she said.

She said that while the agenda for the first meeting does not have the fee increase listed, it is very likely that it will be discussed.

In the past the CFA tried to get more money for the CSU system by lobbying the legislature, said Taiz, but now they will “put pressure on the board, and pressure on the chancellor to ask the legislature for more money.”

She said she hopes that students will become more involved in the fight for better funding.

Natalye Childress Smith can be reached at [email protected].