We, the undersigned, are committed to ensuring that public education is protected, and that the mission of the CSU is honored by administrators at our East Bay campus and statewide by the Office of the Chancellor. It is up to us to "encourage and provide access to an excellent education to all who are prepared for and wish to participate in collegiate study." The leaders of CSU East Bay have a responsibility to truly embody an emphasis on quality instruction by finding budget solutions that don't have devastating impacts on the education of our students and lives of faculty. The ongoing, drastic cuts to instruction are inconsistent with our stated values, damage our reputation as a University, and undermine future enrollment and stability of our campus community.

𝗕𝗮𝗰𝗸𝗴𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱

The past year and a half management at CSU East Bay has been engaging in drastic cuts to instruction. While planning the Spring 2024 schedule, administration announced last minute mandated cuts to 1100 WTUs, roughly 300 classes–e.g., the College of Letters and Social Sciences (CLASS) was told to eliminate 378 WTUs (approximately 100 classes) from department schedules. The President enacted further last-minute cuts to instruction for Fall 2024–e.g., CLASS was asked to cut another 300 WTUS, roughly 85 classes, only two weeks before the schedule went live. We’ve seen continued cuts across Spring 2025 and now during planning for the AY 2025-2026 many departments have been told to schedule no lecturer faculty at all, even if it impedes the ability of those departments to offer the classes needed for students to complete their degrees. President Sandeen is cutting lecturer faculty to the bone, initiating layoffs of full-time lecturers in Spring 2025 (against the recommendations of the University Layoff Committee). Between Fall 2023 and Spring 2025 our campus has lost 193 lecturer faculty, reflecting a 36% reduction. That is a loss to our students, our programs, and the culture of the whole campus.

President Sandeen has asked the University Layoff Committee to continue to meet this Spring 2025 following news that Sonoma State University (SSU) admin are slashing more than 25% of the workforce, including layoffs for upwards of 130 faculty (including tenured faculty, lecturers, Coaches and Faculty Early Retirement Program faculty), ending 23 academic programs, closing 6 departments, merging another 7 departments, and eliminating all NCAA athletics. The CA governor’s budget proposal for FY 2025-26 includes a potential 7.95% cut to the CSU system. This means the Chancellor’s Office will likely go forward with its plan to reduce East Bay’s portion of the state allocation an additional 5% for a potential total cut of 13% to our campus budget. 

Despite anticipating further cuts and admin claiming we are currently facing a more than $10 million structural deficit, we have failed to see adequate fiscal planning from campus leadership. The Office of the President claims cuts to instruction are driven by low enrollment and budget concerns, but it's not clear why instruction has been the hardest hit or why other cost-saving efforts haven't been prioritized. According to an independent report from fiscal investigator Howard Bunsis that is based on data up to the year 2022, statewide CSU reserves and designated balances are now $3.7 billion, and CSU investment funds total $8.6 billion. Our own campus, East Bay, reported over $127 million in unrestricted reserves in 2022. The Board of Trustees awarded campus presidents raises in 2022, with our president at East Bay getting a 7% raise that year. There was money for President Sandeen to get another 10% raise in summer 2024, bumping her salary to $458,134 per year in addition to her $60,000 yearly housing stipend and $12,000 yearly car allowance. (Just to compare, the CA governor makes $242,295 per year and the President of the USA makes $400,000 per year.) However, apparently we don’t have the money to have SCAA writing tutors over the summer. If the budget is so dire, why is there no hiring freeze in place? We have money to pay for a rebrand of the campus, to install new solar-powered outdoor tables, and to spend millions on new buildings, yet we supposedly can’t keep classes open or fund the services and programs that students rely on.  

Faculty have lost benefits like health insurance, retirement entitlements, and jobs due to the slashing of instruction. Cuts to classes hit lecturer faculty the hardest, and tenure line positions are increasingly at risk while administrative bloat continues unchecked (according to CSUEB org charts, there has been a 16% increase in the number of MPPs or highest paid administrators between 2019 and 2024). Unfortunately, students are the collateral damage, with their class options restricted by high numbers of closed and waitlisted courses, delayed graduation timelines, and faculty who are less present and available in the classroom.

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗪𝗲’𝗿𝗲 𝗔𝘀𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗙𝗼𝗿

We call on the CSUEB Office of the President to stop the cuts to instruction and find alternative ways to address low enrollment and budget deficits, with input from faculty, staff, and students and while honoring shared governance systems in alignment with 23-24 FUFM 1 Resolution to Reduce Harm to Lecturer Faculty in Spring 2024 and Beyond passed by faculty senate. The President and administrators need to provide transparent, long-term budget plans for Academic Affairs to ensure that cuts to key areas like instruction are not made last-minute.

We call upon the CSU Office of the Chancellor to prioritize instruction and provide transparent information to faculty and the general public about the financial reality of the CSU. Management should adequately explore alternative options rather than cutting programs, slashing classes, and downsizing and/or restructuring campuses. 

We call upon the Board of Trustees to advocate for faculty jobs and student needs, avoiding cuts to essential campus services like instruction.

Because we, the undersigned, have no confidence that CSU leadership will protect instruction and ensure continued access to a quality education for future generations, we call on the California legislature to launch an independent investigation into the finances of the CSU and how ongoing budget decisions reflect stated institutional priorities.

This petition was authored by concerned members of the CSU East Bay community and endorsed on Monday, April 15, 2024, by the California Faculty Association (CFA) East Bay Executive Board. The petition will be delivered to the CSUEB Office of the President, CSUEB Academic Affairs, CSUEB Faculty Senate, the CSU Office of the Chancellor, the CSU Board of Trustees, and CA legislature members who represent the regions where our East Bay campus and satellite campus are located.

REFERENCES

● 23-24 FUFM 1 Resolution to Reduce Harm to Lecturer Faculty in Spring 2024 and Beyond: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ulgxHa5JCJAfhIcuKd_3BxITPVEpYtiD4DKgSkIbYVk/edit?usp=drivesdk