December 22, 2008

TO: All CSU Employees

FROM: Charles B. Reed, CSU Chancellor

RE: Governor’s Order Regarding Furloughs and Layoffs

Last Friday, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger issued an executive order that includes several measures to address the state’s worsening fiscal crisis. The measures include furloughs and layoffs intended to save 10 percent of state General Fund spending. The furloughs and layoffs apply only to state civil service employees under the State Employer-Employee Relations Act (The Dills Act). CSU employment is governed instead by the Higher Education Employer-Employees Relations Act. The CSU is not subject to the governor’s direct executive authority and we do not plan to institute furloughs as called for by the governor’s executive order. Given the severity of the state’s fiscal crisis, however, the governor’s executive order does request that the CSU, along with the University of California, the California Community Colleges and other state entities implement similar or other mitigation measures to achieve budget and cash savings for the current and next fiscal year. You can read the Governor’s executive order at www.gov.ca.gov.

The Governor’s actions highlight the significance of the state’s budget problem. The CSU is directly affected by the state’s budget and has been working on ways to reduce costs while doing everything we can to protect our students, faculty and staff in this unprecedented fiscal crisis.

In consultation with our Board of Trustees and our presidents, the CSU is already taking actions in response to the state’s fiscal crisis, including:

1. We are limiting the number of new students admitted in 2009 by 10,000 to align with the enrollment funded by the state. The state’s 2008-09 budget provided no funding for enrollment growth and we, in fact, face the prospect of additional funding cuts.
2. Our 23 universities and the Chancellor’s Office are reducing non-essential travel, equipment and other purchases, and will fill only those positions critical to the operation of the organization.
3. We anticipate stopping work on bond-funded contracts with state agencies in response to last week’s decision by the state to suspend most bond sales and related financing. Also related to this decision, we are reviewing all state-funded design and construction projects and anticipate suspending several of these projects in the coming weeks.

We will continue to look at ways to reduce our costs and our spending while protecting, to the greatest extent possible, our students, faculty and staff, and the quality of our university. We will monitor the state’s budget situation throughout the holidays and I will update you in early January.

Sincerely,
Chancellor Charles B. Reed

last updated December 22, 2008