Fresno State President John Welty said Tuesday the scale of budget cuts facing the university has "overwhelmed even the best-laid plans," and outlined difficult measures the school has taken to cope with the state's financial crisis.

During his annual address to faculty, Welty said the university faces a 13% cut in California State University funding this year.

Under the new budget, he said, the CSU system will grow by 4.3% in 2003-04, instead of an expected 7%.

And next year, he said, the university is being told there will be no growth in enrollment.

The CSU budget plan contains unallocated reductions of $21.1 million to Fresno State, he pointed out, which is approximately 12.4% of last year's base budget.

To help mitigate the impact of reductions to CSU, the Board of Trustees implemented a 30% student fee increase, which at Fresno State will offset reductions by approximately $9.2 million.

And, he said, Fresno State will receive $7.5 million in new enrollment growth funding, leaving the campus with a $4.4 million net budget shortfall.

In addition to these budget cuts, the university will have to absorb unfunded cost increases of about $3 million for compensation increases, health care premiums and risk pool insurance.

As a result of the budget bill, he said, the university has taken the following action with regard to enrollment in 2003-04 and 2004-05:

Applications for the fall 2003 semester are closed.

Applications for spring 2004 will be accepted for one month only, from Aug. 1-31, from upper-division students with 56 or more units and returning students. Graduate students may apply from Aug. 1 to Sept. 30 for the spring semester.

The campus is not accepting applications from first-time freshmen or lower-division transfer students for the spring 2004 semester.

"Ironically, at a time when we are seeing unprecedented applications to Fresno State, we are coping with enrollment limits. The academic qualifications of our students are rising dramatically -- boosted by the popularity of the Smittcamp Family Honors College -- yet our capacity to handle our growing student enrollment is diminished," Welty told the faculty.

At Fresno State, he said, like at other sister campuses across the state, the impact of the budget includes:

Larger and fewer classes; a reduction of staff and faculty positions; a 30% increase in student fees; no salary increases for management employees and many other employees in 2003-04; and no salary increase for any employee in 2004-05.

Welty said that over the past two months, he has eliminated 10.5 management positions which resulted in a reassignment, a reduction in time base or layoff for those employees affected.

"These actions," he said, "have resulted in a savings of $1 million. There are no future layoffs contemplated this year."

The budget crisis means that everyone will have to work harder just to maintain the status quo, but, fortunately, he said, unlike many other other campuses, Fresno State does not have to rely only on state funding.

Welty applauded the community's long history of supporting the university through private and corporate donations and said efforts are under way to bond that teamwork even stronger.

Welty also used his speech to announce the first endowed deanship in the CSU system and one of only about 40 nationwide.

Welty said an additional $1 million gift from Sid and Jenny Craig will establish the Craig Dean's Heritage Chair in the Craig School, which, in addition to the $10 million the Craigs already have contributed, will provide additional funding for faculty professional development, research initiative and as necessary supplemental support needed to recruit and retain a dean for the Craig School in the future.