Finally, some uplifting news
January 20, 2010
January 20, 2010
The Times-Standard
By Brandon Chapin
For once, students, faculty, and staff in higher education received some uplifting news. In his annual State of the State address, Governor Schwarzenegger promised to protect higher education in these next budget rounds and proposed a constitutional amendment that would ensure higher education funding in the future is never lower than prisons.
Currently, 11 percent of California’s general fund goes to our state prison system. This funding supports 33 prisons, 13 correctional facilities, and six juvenile facilities which house or supervise parole for approximately 317,000 offenders.
This is compared to just 7 percent for higher education. That includes two of the state’s three college systems: the University of California and the California State University systems, which encompass 33 campuses. All three systems serve over 650,000 students and provide employment for over 200,000 faculty, staff and administrators.
The governor’s constitutional amendment is pretty simple. It would require no less than 10 percent of taxpayer money to be allocated to higher education and no more than 7 percent to be put toward the prison system. As you can imagine, getting there would be pretty tough, so the limits would not be mandatory until 2014.
CSU Students and Parents May Qualify for New Tax Credit
January 19, 2010
January 11, 2010
By Erik Fallis
For tax years 2009 and 2010, there is a new post-secondary education credit called the American Opportunity Tax Credit (AOC). The AOC was created by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (stimulus plan) of 2009 and is a modified version of the Hope Credit, which has existed since 1997.
The AOC may have several benefits for CSU students or their parents (in the case of dependents). The maximum amount of the AOC is $2,500 per student, an increase from previous years. The credit can be claimed for the first four years of post-secondary education, doubling the previous duration of the Hope credit. The AOC is also now a refundable credit for most taxpayers, with higher income qualification limits and an expanded list of qualified expenses.
The California State University continues to be a leader in affordability. On average, factoring in financial aid, the state university fee is offset dollar-for-dollar with grants for financially needy families with incomes less than $75,000. For those families with $75,000 to $180,000 in annual income, available grants and tax credits may exceed the latest fee increase.
See the Tax Credit Fact Sheet.
CSU Students Respond to Governor’s Proposed 2010-11 Budget
January 11, 2010
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 11, 2010
Media Contact: Roberto C. Torres
Office Phone: : (916) 278-7922
E-Mail: asipresident@csus.edu
CSU STUDENTS RESPOND TO THE GOVERNOR’S PROPOSED 2010/2011 BUDGET
Sacramento, CA – On Friday, the Governor of California proposed a 2010-11 state budget that provides $60.6 million in enrollment growth funding and $305 million to backfill a one-time reduction in the California State University (CSU) budget. Seeking to close a $19.9 billion deficit over the next 18 months, the Governor’s proposed budget includes a variety of spending cuts and shifts in current year spending. This budget reflects a positive step in reinvesting in California’s premiere public higher education system.
“The California State Student Association (CSSA) is relieved to receive the Governor’s proposal including these reinvestment measures,” said CSSA President Steve Dixon. “Due to a 21% or $625 million reduction to the CSU budget over the past two years, our 23 campus system is experiencing student fee increases, employee furloughs and layoffs, and for the first time in our history – enrollment reductions that deny access to qualified California residents,” Dixon continued.
Setting the record straight: WSJ misses the boat on SAFRA
December 7, 2009
By Kruger, Mike on December 7, 2009 12:45 PM
California bill seeks oil tax to aid colleges
October 12, 2009
October 12, 2009
San Francisco Chronicle
By Nanette Asimov
A state lawmaker says he’s found a way to give California’s cash-strapped colleges and universities nearly a billion extra dollars a year – but those schools, at least for now, are saying “no thanks.”
Assembly Majority Leader Alberto Torrico, a Fremont Democrat running for state attorney general, is pushing for an oil severance tax to benefit higher education. Companies that extract oil from California would pay 9.9 percent of its gross value into a California Higher Education Fund, intended to also help extract public colleges and universities from their deep financial hole.
University Affairs Updates(top)
Trustee Linscheid named Vice Chair of CSU BOT
January 29, 2010
Linscheid tapped for CSU board
January 29, 2010
The Chico Enterprise-Record
By LARRY MITCHELL
Bob Linscheid of Chico was named vice chairman of the California State University Board of Trustees Wednesday.
His selection came at a meeting of the board in Long Beach.
“I appreciate the acknowledgment of my colleagues,” Linscheid, a Chico businessman, said in a phone interview Thursday.
He is presumably in line to become chairman of the board at some point. Normally, when a chairman’s term is up, he or she is succeeded by the vice chair.
In November, Herbert Carter, who was vice chair of the board, became chairman after then-chairman Jeffrey Bleich was appointed ambassador to Australia by President Obama.
Linscheid has served on the Board of Trustees since 2005. Before that, he served on the CSU Alumni Council, representing Chico State University.
The council promotes alumni interests and the CSU generally. It elects one member to the Board of Trustees, and Linscheid is that member.
As vice-chairman, Linscheid said he plans to continue regularly visiting the various CSU campuses, something he has done during his tenure as a trustee.
The purpose of those visits is to assure the campuses that “we have a board that cares about our students, staff and faculty,” he said.
Linscheid said he appreciates the governor’s promise to direct more resources to higher education.
“We need to get the investment in education, or the state will be in a deplorable condition,” he said.
Linscheid earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Chico State, and he went to John F. Kennedy School of Law from 1982 to 1983.
Since 1993, he has been president of The Linscheid Company, Inc.
Among other things, he has been president of the Western Baseball League, general manager of the Chico Outlaws and president and CEO of the Chico Economic Planning Corp.
CSSA CONDUCTS SEARCH FOR CSU STUDENT TRUSTEE
January 27, 2010
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact Information:
Sarah Vagts
CSSA Director of University Affairs
562-519-8225
CSSA CONDUCTS SEARCH FOR CSU STUDENT TRUSTEE
Long Beach, CA, January 27, 2010 – The California State Student Association (CSSA) is now accepting applications for the annual search for a student trustee to serve on the California State University (CSU) Board of Trustees.
The Board of Trustees is the highest policy‐making body for the 23‐campus CSU system. Trustees establish policies on student fees, admissions, financial aid, technology, student services and other areas that directly impact the approximately 450,000 students in the CSU system.
The primary responsibility of the position is to represent the collective interests of CSU students and to advocate positions that benefit students before the board. Serving as student trustee offers a unique opportunity to shape policy for the largest four‐year higher education system in the world – the California State University.
Completed applications must be received by the CSSA no later than 5:00 pm, Friday, April 9, 2010. Application packets must be mailed or hand delivered. Incomplete applications and those sent by facsimile will not be accepted. Applications are to be delivered to:
California State Student Association
ATTN: Director of University Affairs
401 Golden Shore, Suite 135
Long Beach, CA 90802-4210
Applicants selected for personal interviews will be notified in writing and by telephone. Interviews will be conducted May 7, 2010 at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo. The CSSA will select between two and five final candidates whose names will be forwarded to Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, who will make the final appointment.
For more information and complete instructions on how to apply, visit the CSSA Web site at www.csustudents.org.
About the CSSA
It is the mission of the California State Student Association to maintain and enhance accessibility to quality education for the people of California at the California State University, the People’s University. As the single recognized voice for the approximately 450,000 students of the CSU system, the CSSA is the acknowledged statewide student organization representing, serving, and protecting the collective interests of students in the CSU system.
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Furlough Syllabii
August 30, 2009
If you have a class that has instruction dates marked on them as “furloughed” we want them at CSSA to prove that these furloughs are harming the education at CSU schools. The loss of these instruction dates lessens the amount of education you are getting in a class and we want to document that. Send copies of your syllabii that show furlough dates and what content is lost to sjk24@humboldt.edu
Student Advocacy Day
April 17, 2009
Join student leaders from all three segments of California public higher education for Student Advocacy Day on Monday, April 20, 2009 at the north steps of the state capitol to encourage lawmakers to restore college access and affordability.Â
More information: student-advocacy-day-media-advisory.
The Community Policy Forum on Higher Education
March 10, 2009
The Associated Students at UCLA and the Vasconcellos Legacy Project will be hosting:
 The Community Policy Forum on Higher Education
 Please help us define the future of higher education in California by joining us for an evening of engaging discussions with students, faculty members, administrators, education policy experts and community leaders on key issues related to higher education access and success. Come share your input and expertise as we work together to tackle the challenges of modernizing our economy, training the next generation of workers, and recovering from the economic crisis.
 WHEN:  Tuesday, April 7
Time:Â Â Â 5:30-7:30pm
 WHERE: 2nd Floor Lounge, Ackerman Student Union UCLA campus, Westwood CA
 Beverages and light refreshments will be provided! Details and a list of confirmed speakers to follow.
 To RSVP and for questions, please email Sonya Mehta at sonyamehta@ucla.edu or call 408-439-8286.
 We look forward to seeing you on April 7th!
 -The Associated Students at UCLA & and the Vasconcellos Legacy Project staff
UCSA LobbyCon
February 16, 2009
The University of CA is having its lobby-con (like CSSA’s CHESS) February 28-March 2, 2009 at the Sacramento Radisson. Registration is $125 for CSU Students until the day of the conference. To learn more about it please visit their website by clicking here: ucsa .
California bill seeks oil tax to aid colleges
October 12, 2009
October 12, 2009
San Francisco Chronicle
By Nanette Asimov
A state lawmaker says he’s found a way to give California’s cash-strapped colleges and universities nearly a billion extra dollars a year – but those schools, at least for now, are saying “no thanks.”
Assembly Majority Leader Alberto Torrico, a Fremont Democrat running for state attorney general, is pushing for an oil severance tax to benefit higher education. Companies that extract oil from California would pay 9.9 percent of its gross value into a California Higher Education Fund, intended to also help extract public colleges and universities from their deep financial hole.
Facebook: The New Classroom Commons?
September 30, 2009
September 30, 2009
Chronicle of Higher Education
By Harriet L. Schwartz
A neighbor is busy, a colleague is tired, a long-lost friend wants to know which 80s band best describes me. A few of my students are stressed about their forthcoming internships, and another is working on her research. I know this because their Facebook postings tell me so.
Without a doubt, my Facebook page provides plenty of minutiae. But is it useful in the context of academic relationships, specifically with students? Is Facebook a new commons keeping us connected? That’s an important possibility, given financial strains that limit students’ discretionary time on campus and increased enrollment in flexible-format programs. Or is Facebook yet another example of technology trumping substance?
State eroding access and affordability…
July 16, 2009
The high price of CSU admission
July 16, 2009
San Francisco Chronicle
Think California can get out of this budget crisis with “no new taxes?†Look at the California State University system and think again. Facing a staggering drop in state funding, the CSU board of trustees are about to vote on a 20 percent increase in student fees.
That’s on top of the 10 percent fee hike the trustees approved in May. The overall increase for students would be 32 percent for the 2009-10 school year.
It’s not like CSU has much of a choice. It’s facing a $584 million budget cut from the state. According to the governor’s last revision, the state is planning on giving the system $1.6 billion - which is $500 million less than the state gave it in 1999. That’s in real dollars, not inflation-adjusted ones.
In the face of such nonsupport from Sacramento, CSU is desperately trying to dump water out of its sinking boat. Everyone is sharing the pain: For university employees, there will be layoffs and furloughs (two days per month has been proposed, the equivalent of a 9.5 percent pay cut). For new students, there will less of a shot at admission: CSU will have to enroll 40,000 fewer students over the next two years. Those new students will also have less flexibility: In order to meet its targets, CSU will not allow new students to enroll in the spring of next year.
Even with the explosion in fees (undergraduates will pay $4,026 in basic fees, up $978 from last year), CSU remains a relative bargain. But the state is steadily eroding the very things that made it a national model: access and affordability.