President Hosts Budget Forum

Dr. Mohammad Qayoumi

At April 22’s budget forum, President Qayoumi began with good news about exactly how Proposition 30 impacts SJSU. View the event video and slides here.

Prop. 30 provided SJSU with $5.5 million that will be used this year for more course sections, classroom improvements, tech upgrades and Spartan Complex renovations.

SJSU could receive an additional $13.2 million next year if the legislature approves the $250 million increase the California State University budget proposed by Governor Brown.

There is no word yet on tuition increases for students and pay increases for faculty and staff, matters addressed by the system overall rather than each campus.

We’ll know more after the “May Revise,” an update of the budget proposal released in January. The legislature expects to pass the budget package in June. The new fiscal year begins July 1.

Auxiliaries

But the hundreds of students who packed the front rows of Morris Dailey Auditorium focused on the planned merger of four of SJSU’s five auxiliaries.

Students demanded a greater voice in the process, which would combine the Student Union, Spartan Shops, the Tower Foundation and the Research Foundation.

Qayoumi explained the merger is still very much in the planning process, with the goal of gaining efficiencies through unifying common functions such as financial services, IT and HR.

A taskforce of business managers for each auxiliary has issued a report that the president will share with each organization’s board of directors.

Qayoumi assured the students that fees collected for Student Union, Aquatics Center and Fitness Center renovations will be used for no other purpose.

Online Initiatives

The question and answer session then turned to other topics, including funding for SJSU’s online initiatives.

Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Ellen Junn explained students pay for the Udacity courses through the College of International and Extended Studies.

San Jose State has paid nothing for edX materials blended into campus-based courses. But as the collaboration expands, SJSU will pay a licensing fee.

To cover the cost, the provost has applied for a grant to be funded through $10 million Governor Brown set aside for CSU online efforts.