After months of fearing a 7 percent cut, Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs at Sacramento State Joseph Sheley announced today to the Faculty Senate that the University Budget Advisory Committee has submitted a budget proposal to Sac State President Alexander Gonzalez that includes a two-year, 3.5 percent cut.

This new cut relies on carry-forward funds, money that is reserved year-to-year, to reduce the damage resulting from the state budget reductions. Gonzalez is expected to accept the budget.

Carry-forward funds cannot be replenished as baseline budget funds, which come from the state, are. Once the money is spent, Sac State will not have funds available to handle a large-scale emergency, “such as a lab exploding,” said Sheley.

A portion of the carry-forward funds will be used to replace instructional technology, such as computers, which are necessary to maintain a competitive campus. This has not been done in about five years, Sheley said.

The remainder of the funds will be used to eliminate the structural deficit. Sheley illustrated the three-year picture as being “on the edge of a cliff.” This is because Sac State will be operating with no reserve funds.

Several senators voiced the opinion that because of the level of efficiency that the departments have been operating at over the last several years, even a 3.5 percent reduction is going to result in people losing jobs.

Sheley acknowledged that one method that will likely be used to retain instructors will be to move them to other departments. This method was used in the late 1990s, with some success.

Derek Fleming can be reached at [email protected]