CSU — Blog — Healy Chen

Here comes the pain

With the economy practically coming to a stand-still for the better part of three months, we know there will be plenty of consequences. Some are more immediate, like the overwhelmed hospitals in New York, and some are more laggard indicators. One such item is how States will deal with the enormous budget shortfall stemming from the coronavirus stoppages. Unlike the federal government, States have a mandate to balance their budgets; therefore should revenue come up short, the expense side of the equation must acquiesce.

Today in California, our governor announced a revised budget for the coming fiscal year, accounting for the utter financial damage COVID-19 has wrought on the economy. Cuts are happening, and of consequence to me is the funding for the CSU system. Within the new calculations is a 10-percent cut to the general fund for the public university system, which represents a significant chunk of the overall CSU budget. How that will materially affect campus operations - and my very own employment prospects at San Francisco State - remains to be seen, though I would not be surprised if temporary cuts to salaries - in the form of furlough days - is going to be a thing.

Because the biggest expense is labor, of course, and with news that California will be asking State employees to take a 10-percent pay-cut, I don’t see how workers at the CSU would be spared from the trimming. Furloughs happened after the great financial crash of 2008, so it’s very likely to happen again for this current crisis. A modest decrease in salary is magnitudes better than flat-out losing employment, something over 18-million Americans have had to face with in just the past month. We should consider ourselves lucky if the worse of this is only slightly less money coming into the bank account each month.

From a different perspective, a 10-percent salary cut is roughly equal to the amount of raises CSUEU members (the employees union I belong to) received in the past four years combined. We would simply be back to our 2016 pay levels, which doesn’t seem so bad. For sure it will hurt - I don’t exempt myself from those feelings - but it could be worse: have a look at the scores fo tech workers who got laid off from UBER and AirBnb just last week.

Much like the coronavirus, the economic pain stemming from it is a shared burden by us all.

CSU moves Fall classes to virtual

The California State University system made the announcement yesterday the coming Fall 2020 semester will remain remote at all of its campuses. The news comes as a bit of a surprise: not in that classes will still be online in the Fall, but rather the powers at be at the CSU made the decision so relatively early. We are not even done with the Spring 2020 semester yet, and much like everyone else, we’re keenly waiting on what’s going to happen after this initial shelter-in-place order expires at the end of May. Instead of keeping those concerned in continued limbo, the CSU have made the choice and set the direction for the rest of the year.

Amongst the concerned includes me, who works at the San Francisco State campus. With this weirdest Spring semester ever winding down to a close, we’ve all been wondering what exactly is going to happen for Fall; will instruction continue to be virtual, or will the coronavirus situation abate enough for everyone to come back together on campus? Opinions are divided, for sure: some have really enjoyed the working-from-home experience, while others prefer the direct interaction and collaboration that only the physical workplace can provide. I’m firmly in both camps, paradoxically.

And I’m sure opinions will be split amongst students as well. A subset of whom will probably be griping about paying full-price tuition and only getting in a return a truncated college experience. That’s going to be a real problem at expensive private institutions, should they elect to keep their respective Fall semester online as well. At the CSU system, tuition - for students residing within California - is relatively cheap; coupled with grants and financial aid that many students are eligible for, the system remains in a good position. Furthermore, these student no longer have to pay for room and board, which here in San Francisco is far from cheap.

Nevertheless, with yesterday’s announcement our questions about Fall have been answered, and we now know the job that must be done in order to facilitate the continuation of remote learning for the rest of the year. Two months ago I’d never would have figured things will turn out like this, and in some ways, this CSU news is a confirmation the affects of COVID-19 will continue to remain with us for many more months to come.