Cal State student fees could see 10% increase next year
Press-Telegram 3/13/07
The board on Wednesday will consider increasing student fees in the 2007-2008 academic year by 10 percent, or by $252 for undergraduates and $312 for graduate students.
If approved, the basic state university fee per academic year would be $2,772 for undergraduates and $3,414 for graduate students. In addition to the basic state fee, students also pay campus-based fees, averaging $679.
The CSU would set aside $38 million from the fee increase and enrollment growth revenue to provide financial aid to the neediest students.
The fee increase reflects Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's proposed budget unveiled in January, which would provide a $299 million funding increase to the CSU - about $174.5 million from the state's general fund and $123 million raised from student fees.
The increase will pay for expanding CSU enrollment by 2.5 percent in the 2007-2008 academic year.
The board also may allow CSULB to proceed with the design and construction of a new food service facility. The $5-million project would involve demolishing the existing The Outpost food service building and replacing it with a larger facility.
James Lyons Sr., who in February stepped down as president of CSUDH, would get a negotiated $103,460 for one year's "transition pay," should the trustees approve the arrangement Wednesday.
CSU executives hired on or before Nov. 15, 2006, who also are tenured faculty members are entitled to one year of "transition pay" equalling the midpoint between their last salary and the maximum pay received by full-time professors.
Such recipients are not required to teach classes or return to a CSU post after the "transition" year ends.
Lyons, a tenured professor of graduate education, was entitled to about $180,000 under the arrangement, but CSU Chancellor Charles B. Reed negotiated a lower amount under trustees' orders, said CSU spokeswoman Clara Potes-Fellow.
The "transition leave" pay system has been met with heavy criticism from some state legislators, who said it is excessive.
The board this year voted to revise the policy so that executives hired after Nov. 15, 2006, and receiving one year of transition pay would have to return to a CSU position.
If approved by the board Wednesday, the newly appointed interim CSUDH president - Boice M. Bowman - would receive an annual salary of $200,000.
In lieu of occupying the president's university residence, Bowman will receive a monthly housing allowance of $5,000.