CSUS president defends his job
Sacramento Bee 4/11/07
In an open letter sent to faculty and staff of California State University, Sacramento, he denied allegations that he mismanaged the budget and said he is not to blame for a $6.5 million structural deficit this year. He also called for "a rational and civil exchange and discussion of ideas."
The nine-page letter is not an apology. While it contains some conciliatory passages, it relies heavily on a strong, defiant tone, referring at one point to the push for a no-confidence vote as "reminiscent of a witch hunt."
The stakes for Gonzalez are high. Last week, the university's Faculty Senate overwhelmingly agreed to put the no-confidence referendum in front of the entire faculty. A vote probably will occur later this month.
If he loses, the vote will, at the least, further strain the already acrimonious relations between Gonzalez's office and much of the faculty.
"Are we going to work together and move forward?" Gonzalez asked Tuesday in an interview with The Bee, framing how he sees the vote and the culture surrounding it. "Or are we going to continue with this total lack of trust?"
But no matter how the vote goes, Gonzalez said, he will not resign.
"Absolutely not. The chancellor and the board of trustees, they are the people I report to," he said.
Faculty Senate Chair Michael Fitzgerald said the president's letter, while comprehensive, isn't likely to sway many votes. The referendum probably will go against Gonzalez, Fitzgerald said.
"I think it's going to raise as many issues as it answers questions," Fitzgerald said.
The issues at hand are these: How did CSUS wind up with a large structural deficit? What's the best way to deal with it?
On the first question, Gonzalez blames the deficit on rising costs and a failure to meet enrollment targets.
Many faculty members blame Gonzalez, saying he diverted money the college didn't have to things such as recruitment and public affairs. Many faculty also say Gonzalez added administrators as the university struggled.
On the second question, Gonzalez said he will listen to a new committee of faculty, staff, administrators and students in deciding how to deal with financial troubles.
But, he said, the university might need to cut funding for academic affairs -- the bread-and-butter of the university that pays for instruction and other academic programs -- since it makes up the bulk of the budget.
Many faculty members say academic affairs should be cut only as a last resort and accuse Gonzalez of disregarding the mission of the university.
There's also a lot of disagreement over the details of the budget -- places where Gonzalez said the "misrepresentation" is coming into play.
The no-confidence referendum says Gonzalez systematically cut funding for academic affairs by $3 million. Gonzalez says funding for academic affairs has risen recently.
An independent budget task force report shows expenditures for academic affairs seesawing a bit, rising as high as $110 million in fiscal year 2003 and dropping to as low as $103.5 million in fiscal 2005. This year, the university has allocated about $106.6 million to academic affairs.
The faculty referendum also says Gonzalez substantially increased funding for university advancement -- student recruitment and public affairs, for example.
In an interview, Gonzalez countered that CSUS advancement spending was a small part of the college's budget. Besides, he countered, increased recruitment efforts and an improved public image will bring more students to the campus. And that will bring in more money.
"If we don't make enrollment," he said, "we lose resources."
Funding for university advancement this year, the independent task force found, is $4.2 million, which is 62 percent higher than in fiscal year 2002.
The referendum and the independent task force say that the university increased the number of "management personnel plan" employees, which includes administrators, substantially last year, raising total salaries paid to such employees by $1.7 million.
Gonzalez said his office reclassified several employees for administrative purposes and did not make a bunch of new hires.
In the end, Gonzalez, in his response, missed a chance to reach out to the faculty and change minds, said Kevin Wehr, an assistant professor of sociology.
"He's not addressing the real concerns: disrespect for faculty; disrespect for the core mission of the university; low faculty morale; low student morale," Wehr said.
For his part, Gonzalez said the game has been tilted against him from the start. Bad relations created by faculty have a history of forcing university presidents out of office quickly, he said, citing several CSUS leaders who left office before previous President Donald Gerth began his long run of the 1980s and 1990s.
"The day I walked in, there were going to be people who were gunning for me," Gonzalez said in an interview. "This is just an opportunity, but there is nothing there.
"They would be angry," he added, gesturing toward his desk, "if it was God sitting in that chair."