In the wake of drastic measures to counteract a sharp budget reduction this academic year, CSULB President F. King Alexander called the California state legislature “dysfunctional” and “unbalanced” during a special Beer & Politics forum held in the campus bar The Nugget last Thursday night.
President Alexander took questions from B&P host Mike Clements, as well as several aggressive questions from students in the audience, demanding answers and action after the Fall semester has seen classes cut and furlough days implemented in order to save money.
The seating area in The Nugget was packed, a pleasant site since the bar and restaurant is normally closed in the evening. It was refreshing to see students vigorously debating and participating in an on-campus activity outside of class, as this is not historically the case. In a chicken-or-the-egg situation, students have long said they would stay on campus if there were more evening activities, while officials seemed to believe that evening activities weren’t needed because students wouldn’t attend.
But they held it, and they came on Thursday night, and they made their presence known, holding President Alexander’s feet to the fire.
The main topic of discussion was the school budget, which suffered extensive damage after the California legislature pulled $584 million out of the California State University budget this year. That loss trickled down to CSULB, which was forced to take a $42 million hit that resulted in canceled classes and furlough days (two per month).
Students wanted to know who is responsible for their difficulties in obtaining the classes they need to graduate, and asked what is being done to improve the situation.
President Alexander, a gifted orator, placed significant blame on the State for slashing the CSU budget, and asked students to not forget “who the bad guys are.”
He explained that the State cut only $584 million from the CSU budget because it was the maximum amount that could be cut without incurring federal penalties. Without the threat of those penalties, he said, the State may have cut up to $800 million from California’s largest university system.
He called for stricter federal penalties for states that take from education.
“When [California is] 48th in support for our students and 2nd in support of our prisoners, we need to reconsider our priorities,” he said.
The president urged students to take advantage of new federal funding and scholarship opportunities, the greatest surge in student assistance since the G.I. Bill.
He also argued that banks should be removed from the student loan process, because they take advantage of students and bestow higher interest rates on poorer students which they consider “higher risk.” In an example of the quick-witted students in attendance, a question was submitted asking if it was contradictory to blast banks’ involvement in student loans while allowing campus vendors to hawk students into signing up for credit cards. President Alexander responded that the practice is no longer allowed on campus.
As the evening wound down, he reminded those in attendance that CSULB still operates efficiently and provides excellent value compared with universities across the state and nation. The Princeton Review ranked CSULB one of the nation’s Top 50 best public value colleges in the nation this July.
President Alexander said that CSULB spends an average of $36,000 to graduate each student during a typical four-year term. The average for the CSU system is around $43,000 and the average for the UC system is around $86,000, he said.
“I would love to see Harvard run our institution, or Cal Tech run our institution with the inefficiencies they have,” he said.
For the future, President Alexander said that more hard times are ahead. The university is looking at numerous ways to address new challenges in the Spring semester (they have already decided not to accept new applications until next Fall).
He also noted that administration is trying to protect their international student population, raided by increasing tuition costs added to their already high fees. Administration is trying to protect the entire student population, but with one-time Federal Stimulus funding running low and difficult budget circumstances persisting, more furlough days and higher tuitions may be on the near horizon.
Does President Alexander believe there is a way to stop the bleeding?
Of course he does.
“If the state funded this university adequately, there wouldn’t be any cuts,” he said.