Dear California State University Community,
Let me begin with thank you.
I remain deeply impressed and pleased by our university community’s effort to raise awareness of our successes and needs – while advocating for adequate funding to maintain progress on student success, authentic access and fair compensation for our valued employees. Moreover, our state’s economy is strong and many lawmakers support the CSU. Thus, I have decided that it is in the best interest of California that tuition levels should remain unchanged for the 2018-19 academic year.
This decision is not made lightly. There will be serious adverse consequences if state funding falls short of meeting our university needs. Without sufficient additional dollars, campuses will need to reevaluate staffing levels, programs and services. We would be put in the situation that less is achievable with insufficient funding – less than our aspirations and goals, less than our state’s needs, and less than our students’ expectations.
So, our ask of the state is this: #ChooseCSU and fund our shared priorities. Our ask now being considered by the state for funding is just for the university’s most pressing needs. We all want students to have the clearest and most life-changing path to graduation. We all want high-quality degrees to meet the needs of the state’s economy and society, today’s and tomorrow’s. We all want faculty and staff to be fairly compensated. These shared priorities are shared responsibilities for California.
Our future is now clearly and unambiguously in the hands of lawmakers. I ask you to join with me as we sustain our advocacy efforts and close out the annual budget cycle in Sacramento strongly. I look for your continued support as we emphasize to our state leaders that full funding for the California State University is key to California’s future. You can find easy contact information for your assembly member and senator by visiting this website: findyourrep.legislature.ca.gov.
Sincerely,
Timothy P. WhiteChancellor