Support of the Development of a Consistent Methodology for the Analysis of the Student-Faculty Ratio and Intra- and Inter-Campus
Expenditures on Instruction

AS-3006-11/FGA (Rev)

RESOLVED: That the Academic Senate of the California State University (ASCSU) recognize the
importance of the information and methodologies presented on pages 1-4 and 20-31 of the Three-Year Financial Information Record Management System (FIRMS) Comparison Study: Final Report (see
http://www.csusm.edu/aa/documents/firms_report-augrevise.pdf) for isolating intra- and
inter-campus expenditures on instructional and non-instructional units; and be it further

RESOLVED: That the ASCSU endorse The Student Faculty Ratio and Related Issues report (see
http://www.csusm.edu/aa/documents/sfr_report_08_31_2010.pdf), and acknowledge the
need to determine accurately the student-faculty ratio (SFR) across campus units and across CSU campuses; and be it further

RESOLVED: That the ASCSU urge the Office of the Chancellor and CSU campuses to use standardized methodologies such as those described in the aforementioned reports to analyze and report the SFR and instructional expenditures across the CSU system for decision-making purposes; and be it further

RESOLVED: That the ASCSU distribute this resolution to the Board of Trustees, the Chancellor, Executive Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, campus Presidents, campus Provosts/Vice Presidents of Academic Affairs’, and campus Senate Chairs.

RATIONALE: The CSU has long acknowledged the problems of comparing instructional expenditures and SFR across campuses. The reason frequently given is that each campus has unique methods for calculating these important management data. The purpose of this resolution is to encourage the CSU and campuses within the CSU to develop a consistent methodology for calculating these indexes in decision-making. The ASCSU commend the Data Reconciliation and Analysis Subcommittee of the Budget and Long Range Planning Committee at California State University, San Marcos for a thorough analysis of student-faculty ratio (SFR) and instructional expenditures in the
aforementioned reports.

Approved Without Dissent – March 17-18, 2011