Dr. Mohammad Qayoumi

Dr. Mohammad Qayoumi

President Mohammad Qayoumi thanked students who took an active role in the 2012 elections and explained how the passage of Proposition 30 will benefit SJSU at a campuswide budget forum Nov. 27.

“Kudos to students who took the election to heart,” Qayoumi said. “This is tremendously important. Leadership is something that needs to be recognized.”

Qayoumi opened the event, which you can view on the SJSU Budget Central website, by providing a quick overview of the California State University 2013-14 budget request.

The CSU will ask the governor and legislature for $371.9 million over its current baseline budget to fund enrollment growth, compensation increases and facilities maintenance.

Yet Qayoumi remains cautious. The passage of Proposition 30 stabilizes the state budget and means the CSU will avoid a $250 million trigger cut while rolling tuition to 2011-12 levels. View current SJSU tuition and fees.

Taking these two factors into consideration, SJSU will net $5.5 million. This will alleviate SJSU’s structural deficit, but SJSU continues to face a $27 million gap.

Cautious Optimism

So while SJSU expects to hire 22 tenure track faculty members this year and honor the expected minimum wage increase in San Jose, the campus will continue to look for ways to reduce expenses, increase revenue and improve efficiencies.

In a question and answer session following the presentation, a faculty member sought to compare the percentage of the budget spent on faculty affairs and student affairs.

SJSU’s 2012-13 budget report (page 9) shows faculty affairs receives 53 percent of the budget, while Student Affairs receives 5.7 percent of the budget. Another big slice–nearly 25 percent–covers university-wide expenses, with the majority going to student financial aid and utilities.

A student raised concerns about buildings that are too hot during the summer, and too cold during the winter.

SJSU must compete with the 22 other CSU campuses for facilities funding, and is at a disadvantage given 75 percent of San Jose State’s structures are more than 40 years old.

However, the president explained, SJSU is developing a facilities master plan in preparation for the state’s next general obligation bond, which is expected in the next few years as the economy recovers.

Next Forum

President Qayoumi plans to host the another budget forum in late February, after the CSU reviews Governor Brown’s proposed 2013-14 state budget, which will be released in early January.

The governor will revise his proposal in May, taking into consideration updated tax revenue projections. The legislature is expected to act on the proposal before the start of the next fiscal year July 1, 2013.