Subject: Fund the CSU!

To: Governor Newsom 

I write as a member of the California Faculty Association, the union proudly representing the 29,000 faculty of the CSU including professors, lecturers, coaches, counselors, and librarians. 

Thank you for always being a strong partner for public higher education. We write to request that you continue that commitment. 

Our members have been on the front lines during the global pandemic, serving students and training the majority of our state’s essential workforce including our teachers, nurses, social workers, and firefighters. CSU faculty stepped up and met the challenge of shifting to entirely remote instruction in March 2020 and the continuing task since then of empowering our students to learn despite the challenges they and our society have faced and continue to face. We are proud of the dedication and commitment demonstrated by our members, a commitment that continues as we adapt to the ever-changing constraints of the pandemic. 

The May Revision, while adding several earmarked items for specific campus projects, does not provide additional funding from your January Budget Proposal for bargained compensation increases or for implementation of recommendations of the Staff Salary Study. We have an obligation to our members who fought two years for a fair and reasonable contract and we are in solidarity with our staff colleagues, who are currently bargaining their contract.  

The 23 campuses of the CSU educate over 450,000 students each year, and for every dollar invested by the state in the CSU, $7 in economic activity is generated. In other words, investing in the CSU pays off for our society.    

We are grateful for your many years of support for public higher education, and we respectfully request that you accept the Senate’s budget proposal for the CSU, a proposal that provides adequate funding to ensure that the CSU can provide fair and competitive compensation for the most valuable asset of the CSU – its faculty and staff.