Posted Sept. 6, 2013 by ABC7.
By Lyanne Melendez
SAN JOSE, Calif. (KGO) — The head of the California State University system was in San Jose Friday. When Tim White was appointed last October, he promised to visit each of the 23 campuses. Friday was San Jose State‘s turn and the chancellor delivered some good news for the faculty.
Everyone likes to hear their salary is going up. The faculty at the 23 California State Universities hasn’t had a raise in five years. It’s a modest 1.3-percent salary increase, one the new chancellor of the CSU system said was necessary.
“We put aside $38 million,” White said. The money came from what they received from Prop 30 funds.
“I think the move, even though it’s a very modest increase, is going to be able to give to everybody on campus was really the right one, just to show yes we care about you and we’re going to invest in you,” said Dean of the SJSU College of Science Michael Parrish.
CSU Chancellor Tim White had a question-and-answer session for students and faculty at San Jose State Friday. Some stood up to complain about programs being cut. Others said students are having a hard time graduating on time.
“Unfortunately, our African American Studies Department has been neglected,” one student said.
“A lot of kids don’t get to take the classes that they want,” said another student.
The chancellor who took on the job in January admits the campuses are still underfunded. “We have about 5 percent more students today than we had at the beginning of the economic decline and we have about 6 percent fewer employees,” White explained.
San Jose State says it doesn’t have the money to hire enough staff to keep up with student demand. Every year, the number of students goes up. For example, in one single year, San Jose State went from having 30,000 students to 32,000 today.
Still, White told people Friday that he remains bullish about the future. “My job is to try to get as much resources on the campuses as possible and you all decided how to spend it,” White said.
The CSU system is the largest 4-year public higher education system in the country.
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