Students Talk Budget

Students at California State University, Stanislaus express frustration and anger over budget cuts and fee hikes forced on CSUS by reduced state funding.The cuts impact every student on campus. Fee hikes, class availability, furlough days, financial aid and student support services illustrate the effect daily. Students, especially seniors, scramble for seats in required classes in order to graduate on time. Tuition and other fee increases bleed the bank accounts of hard-working students who now must find more income or face withdrawing from the university. Tied into the money end of the problem is disappearing financial aid. Student support services, like the main dining room, operate on reduced hours.

According to the CSU Budget Central website, during the past two years state funding for the CSU system fell from $2.97 billion during the 2007/2008 school year, to $2.35 billion during the 2009/2010 school year. What this means at the local level is clarified in a letter posted online, January 6, 2010, by CSUS President Dr. Hamid Shirvani. He said, "For Stanislaus, this year alone we had to deal with a 20% budget cut. Student fee increases and voluntary furloughs helped to hold our cuts to this level, but these kinds of pressures take their toll on the entire campus community."

Around campus this past week many students shared recent experiences related to the budget cuts. Reducing class availability adds to the length of time it takes to complete the required course work for a specific degree. Grad student Stacey Pinatelli said, "The TESOL class that I need was canceled last fall and it's not offered in the spring. So this semester I am interning and taking an independent study course just to keep my financial aid going until I can get that TESOL class. A whole year wasted."

Another grad student, Maria Shreve, has the same problem. She signed up for an independent study class because the class she wanted to take is not offered this semester. Independent study classes do earn units but do not necessarily apply to the required course work.

In the past, Alina Hopkins, a fifth year senior, often carried more than fifteen units per semester. She said, "This semester department heads were not letting anyone pass fifteen units, so that more students would be able to get classes." Students who are nearer to the end of their course work suffer bigger hits to their timelines because they have less choices open to satisfy their degree.

Some students fume over the reduction to the financial aid they rely on. Cynthia Bautista, a Single Subject English major, said that the amount of financial aid she received this semester was reduced and an entire grant was taken away. She thought it was ironic that the aid was declining as fees were increasing. Ms. Bautista commented, "They are taking away a lot of opportunity."

Furlough days are another sore spot for students. "Instructors are expected to deliver the same amount of material, but still take furlough days," said Ms. Pinatelli. Several students also pointed out that furloughs break the momentum of a class and rob students of valuable instructional time. In addition, the furlough days that other campus departments such as administration and food services must take are another annoyance students must deal with.

Food is a major requirement in a student's life. Now that the main dining room closes at 2:30 p.m., Mom's Cafe is the only on-campus venue available to students who need to grab a quick bite before dashing off to an evening class. Commuter-student Pinatelli said, "Mom's was so backed up, it took me thirty minutes to get my food the other day. Don't they know how many students get food from four to six?" Ms. Hopkins, who lives on campus, has an even worse experience to relate. Her order was forgotten, and when she finally did receive her grilled cheese sandwich forty-five minutes later, the cheese was not even melted. Her heartfelt comment was, "It is a major pain in the butt for the Main Dining to close at 2:30."

One more cut that still lingers in the minds of the students is the loss of the Winter Term. Ms. Bautista expressed disappointment that Winter Term is no longer an option at CSUS. She said that it was the only time some of her fellow students were able to take a class they needed. She felt that it made up for some students not being able to take a certain class during the fall or spring semesters.

Further information regarding budget cuts to the CSUS campus or the CSU system can be found at their respective websites, www.csustan.edu or www.calstate.edu.