Dear Colleagues:

Likely you’ll be hearing and reading about two conflicting news reports coming out this afternoon about the state’s budget for higher education — one from the Governor’s Office regarding stimulus funding that could offer some very good news for higher ed and CSU, and one from the Joint Budget Committee of the Legislature that sends a more concerning message regarding the new revenue shortfalls identified last week. If you’re confused, pleased be assured that we are, too. But in all fairness, our state leaders are dealing with a very complex budget scenario that now includes the deployment of federal stimulus money, and these reports are coming out midway through an ongoing process in which there are many, many questions still to be resolved. We expect that we’ll have a clearer picture over the next few days as the different reports are combined and reconciled, and until then, I’d again caution all of us not to get too charged up one way or another. Our Executive Committee of Cabinet will meet this Thursday to go over the information we have, and I’ll try to provide more detail on any potential impacts — positive or negative — as soon as there’s anything more concrete to say.

-tony

Dr. Tony Frank
Interim President