At today’s Academic Senate, accusations were made that the CSU Chancellor’s Office is withholding funding from its campuses, Presiden Britt Rios-Ellis assured the body in veiled terms that a strategy is being developed over recent executive orders which target DEI and freedom of speech, and Stan State’s Queer Faculty & Staff Association issued a call for support of queer and transgender Warriors amidst the recent reintroduction of discriminatory practices.
Additionally, the Senate passed resolutions which established a new Quantitative Economics B.S., implemented a new web camera policy which would allow for instructors to make being on-camera mandatory for their courses, and a change to simplify the lecturer range elevation process.
CFA Lambasts Chancellor’s Office’s Response to the Budget Shortfall, Implying Dishonest Communications on Available Funds
CFA Chapter President Dave Colnic made claims that the CSU Chancellor’s Office is refusing orders from the state government and are withholding cash from its universities, instead enforcing austerity measures that are leaving faculty unemployed and are reducing resources and programs available to students.
Colnic claims that the Chancellor’s Office is holding onto $8.358 billion in cash, cash equivalents, and investments, and that the Chancellor’s Office’s claims this cash is accounted for and unable to be divested are dishonest.
Colnic called on the CSU administration to dip into its so-called “rainy day fund.”
“It’s raining,” he said, “When the budget was passed this year, the legislature directed the Chancellor’s Office to fund any shortfalls through these reserves.”
Colnic asserts that it’s neither the state government nor campuses’ faults that austerity measures are becoming widespread, but the fault of the Chancellor’s Office.
Colnic called on faculty, staff, and even students to advocate for the Chancellor’s Office to make fully funding our universities their priority.
Stan State President’s Address Covers Cuts in Funding and Offers Little Concrete Answers on the Future of DEI
President Britt Rios-Ellis began her address to the Senate, which she now plans on delivering on a semi-regular basis, with the assurance that her and her staff are “still continuously building a strategy to deal with the executive orders that seem to be coming down frequently.”
Although her language was vague, she attempted to offer comfort to faculty who are worried about the Trump administration’s executive orders, many of which have been blocked by court orders, that would restrict federal funding to organizations which maintain their DEI initiatives or refuse to comply with the administration’s definitions of sex and gender.
Rios-Ellis also mentioned that Stan State has lost its grant funding for Wildlife Research, and that the state government’s budget is currently proposing a 7.95% cut to the CSU’s funding.
”Advocacy Day is next week. We’ll work to advocate for our students and for our entire community,” she said, referring to advocacy against these budget cutting measures.
After her report, Senator Bret Carroll asked for more involved answers on her office’s response to protect programs threatened by attacks on DEI and her thoughts on the student from Columbia University who was deported despite having his green card, making him a legal permanent resident.
He insisted on the importance of these questions, saying these matters are sending a “deep chill” through our campus.
“I share your concern. I deeply share your concern,” Rios-Ellis replied simply before the Senate session moved onto its next items for the sake of time.
Stan State’s Queer Faculty & Staff Association Call on the University to Strengthen Support for Queer and Transgender Warriors
Faculty Speaker Dana Nakano, also the acting head of the Queer Faculty & Staff Associated, shared an open letter to the campus community, asking “our university administration and the broader campus to do more to ensure that all members of our campus community–particularly those coming under attack–feel secure, protected, and can find inclusion and belonging on this campus.”
The letter cites a number of recent attacks on LGBTQ+ and women’s rights, such as the stripping of federal protections against discrimination on the basis of sex and gender, the declaration to only recognize two immutable genders assigned at birth and the removal of respect for LGBTQ+ students in K-12 schools and the erasure of queer experiences from their curriculum.
The letter ends by announcing a solidarity circle to take place in the Warrior Cross-Cultural Center (WCCC), L-203, on March 19th from 4:30 to 6p.m., for LGBTQ+ students and faculty to share their thoughts and experiences.
Senate Passes Resolutions on New Economics B.S., Web Camera Policy and Range Elevation
In the previous Academic Senate session, three resolutions were discussed in more detail, a proposal for a Quantitative Economics B.S., changes to be made to the web camera policy for online courses and the simplification of the range elevation process for lecturers.
The Quantitative Economics program is said to be focused on traditional economic courses with the addition of mathematics and statistics courses to prepare students for emerging job markets such as data analytics.
The changes to range elevation were described today by FAC Chair Marina Gerson as “an update to simplify the process of range elevation in applying the contract language from our collective bargaining agreement.”
The new web camera policy will allow instructors to mandate students to have their cameras on during class time for online-only courses, and to include a disclaimer for all online courses in the course catalog saying they “may” require the use of a webcam during the class session.
All three resolutions passed with little or no changes made to the policy.
