EDUCATION
I SURREAL As the state cuts millions from the UC budget, the I Irvine campus is adding 460,000 sq ft of new space for ο physical and natural sciences.
ACADEMIC BUDGET CRISIS IN CALIFORNIA Budget cuts and tuition increases at universities lead to concerns about long-term impact JYLLIAN KEMSLEY, C&EN WEST COAST BUREAU
A
FTER MONTHS OF ANXIETY AND
turmoil, international press at tention, and a 2 9-hour mara thon session of the state As sembly, California finally has a budget. And it's not pretty In the final ver sion signed on Aug. 2 by Gov Gray Davis, legislators slashed $5.4 billion from the state budget, leaving behind $71 billion in spending and a $79 billion deficit to carry over to next year. The situation bodes ill for higher edu cation in California. Included in the new budget are cuts of about 10% to the two state university systems—California State University (CSU) and the University of Cal ifornia (UC)—on top of midyear cuts al ready implemented. At a time when both systems had planned to grow significantly in response to increased student demand, the legislature indicated it would provide no funds for enrollment growth, salary in creases, or inflation in 2004-05. "This will be the first time in memory that we would turn qualified students away from the University of California," says Kenneth J. Shea, professor and chair of chemistry at UC Irvine. A systemwide en rollment cap is also unprecedented for CSU. To cope with the cuts, both systems are raising student fees dramatically for next year. "Fees" are California's in-state tuition. 26
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pensive to teach," says Ronald L. Marhenke, professor and chair of chemistry at CSU Fresno. His department has already re stricted enrollment in advanced organic and biochemistry labs. And although some departments are still hiring, new professors may face a rocky start. "We've had some serious problems" with access to start-up funds at San Diego State, Carrano tells C&EN. "It has been very disruptive for people trying to get their research programs off the ground." The situation appears somewhat less dire at UC campuses. 'At this point, it does not look nearly as draconian as you would picture," says Stanley B. Grant, professor and chair of chemical engineering and ma terials science at U C Irvine. "We're still kind of reacting, reacting, waiting waiting ror for tne the oust dust to to κιηα or settle." His department is looking at cuts in supplies, undergraduate equipment, and lecturer positions. Elsewhere, departments at UC Berkeley had to implement a 5% cut at the beginning of July "This is a pretty big thing for us, since our permanent budget is 80% sala ries," more than halfofwhich covers tenured faculty or long-term employees, says pro fessor Clayton H. Heathcock, dean of the College of Chemistry Most of the cuts were made through layoffs of support staff such as carpenters, plumbers, and electricians. But Heathcock is wary of what might happen next. "I'm just kind of waiting for the other shoe to drop," he says. "The upside is that we're resilient, and we've been through these things before, and we won't let it affect us in the long term." Both U C and CSU department chair men say their reactions to the current cri-
CSU is raising fees 30% for 2003-04. UC students face a fee hike of 45% above fall 2002 levels. Additional tuition for UC stu dents who aren't California residents is al so going up by 10%. But the fee increases will only mitigate some of the damage, and the budget crunch is also affecting chemistry and chemical en gineering departments throughout the state. "We had a 10% cut for the end half of 2002-03," CALIFORNIA UNIVERSITIES AT A GLANCE says professor Carl Carra CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY OF no, chair of the chemistry UNIVERSITY CALIFORNIA AS OF FALL 2002 department at San Diego 10 Campuses 23 State. "We're preparing for at least a 10 to 15% cut for 23,060 9,385 Total faculty 2003-04. And 2004-05 is 10,690 7,865 Tenured/tenure-track supposed to look even 1,520 Lecturers 12,370 worse." The department 330,000 154,980 Undergraduate students has halved its lecturer staff $3,429a $1,572a Annual fees and reduced the number of a a $2,046 $4,984 for 2003-04 classes offered, making it more difficult for students 41,800 78,000 Graduate students to complete graduation re $3,610a $1,734a Annual fees a quirements. Also slashed is $2,256 $5,219a for 2003-04 the departmental budget $12 billion Total annual budget $3.5 billion for supplies such as dry ice $2.6 billion $3.2 billion Funding from state and solvents. $2.9 billion $2.3 billion for 2003-04 Other campuses are fac ing similar cuts. "We are NOTE: Numbers in red are those projected for the 2003-04 school year, a Mandatory systemwide fees. Additional campus fees vary. very close to having to can SOURCES: CSU Public Affairs, UC President's Office cel some classes that are ex-
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sis have been tempered by memories of cutbacks in the early 1990s. "It's been at least a decade since all of our funding came from the state," says Emily L. Allen, professor and chair of chemical and materials engineering at San José State. IT REMAINS to be seen what effect the fee and tuition increase will have on department teaching-assistant budgets or on faculty supporting graduate students through research grants. "I haven't had complaints about that yet," says Stanley M. Parsons, professor and chair of the chemistry and biochemistry department at UC Santa Barbara. 'Ά lot of faculty members will get an unpleasant surprise in September when they have to pay these fees for their stu dents." Parsons himself is counting on a student to finish her Ph.D. this summer, and he's unlikely to take on another this fall. U C Santa Barbara—and other schools—may have to consider accepting fewer graduate students in the future. Meanwhile, undergraduate enrollments are—or should be—increasing. CSU was planning to grow by 7% in 2 0 0 3 - 0 4 but now needs to cut back to 4%. That num ber pales in comparison to projected growth at some UC campuses. "Last year, we taught 20% more students in the chem istry department" at UC Irvine, Shea says. Irvine was one of the campuses slated to ac cept most of the growth in the system, which means Shea's budget hasn't been cut—yet. He expects serious cuts next year when enrollment is curtailed. Anticipating growth in students and fac ulty, Irvine is also building. The physical and natural sciences departments will have 460,000 sq ft of new space by the end of 2005. "It's a very weird situation," Shea says. "We have new buildings going up all over, but we're still in the throes of this budget crisis. It's surreal." Looking at the long-term picture, many faculty members are concerned with the overall health of the CSU and UC systems. Departments have barely recovered from cuts in the early 1990s, only to be faced with shortages again. And although some cuts were listed as temporary no one expects the state's financial situation to improve sub stantially in the next several years—and there's still that $79 billion deficit that leg islators rolled over into next year. "Short-term budget cuts directly have an effect on the students. Literally the next day there are fewer classes," SanJosé State's Allen says. "But with long-term cuts, especially when you can't hire new talent, there's an eroding effect on departments. The whole system degrades." •
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