Now that the 1998-99 budget is in place and we are all enjoying the funding increases, including a 4.5 % salary increase for faculty, CUCFA is beginning to monitor the evolving 1999-2000 budget. UCOP presented a proposal at the October Regents’ meeting; action is expected on expenditures at the November meeting; action on income sources will be postponed until after the Governor’s proposal is available, probably at the January or February 1999 Regents’ meeting. We shall continue to report more on this budget as it moves to the Regents, the Governor, and through the Legislature in the spring. In what follows, we present some elements of the UCOP’s 1999-2000 budget proposal that we feel will be of particular interest to faculty.
Faculty Salaries: UC is requesting funding for a COLA averaging 2% for all UC employees and an additional 0.2% parity adjustment for Academic Senate faculty. Preliminary UC estimates suggest that for 1999-2000, these increases along with those coming from regular merits and promotions will keep UC faculty salaries at the mean of the salaries of our eight comparison institutions. Updated projections will be available in November and the FA will examine them carefully.
Additional Market Adjustments: UC is seeking funding equivalent to a 5% increase for Coop. Extension Specialists. These academic appointees are recruited from the same population as ladder rank faculty, but they did not receive the parity adjustments afforded the latter via the compact between UC and the Governor. Thus, their salaries have fallen well behind those in the competitive marketplace. The DFA has several times urged the UCOP to provide parity adjustments for individuals in this title series, and will strongly support the proposal as it goes through the Legislature. UC is also requesting funding equivalent to a 5% market adjustment for Information Technology (IT) Professionals as the first step in a multi-year plan to provide them with competitive salaries.
Increases in Benefit Costs: UC is requesting funding for increases in the cost of health and dental insurance for its employees. This request is based one estimated cost increases of about 5.5%.
Funding for Enrollment Growth: UC is seeking $31.6 million in State funds, or $7,900 per student, to support an additional 4,000 FTE students, bringing the total budgeted general campus enrollment to 151,000 in 1999-2000. The added funding will provide salary and benefits for additional faculty positions and augmented instructional support including clerical and technical personnel, supplies and equipment funds; teaching assistant positions; and support for libraries and student services.
The proposed enrollment growth of 4,000 FTE students includes 200 FTE students who would enroll in classes during the summer and thereby earn teaching credentials sooner than would otherwise be the case. This new program represents one of UC’s efforts to attract well qualified students into the teaching profession. As was true in 1998-99, the enrollment growth includes a target of 800 FTE students in engineering and computer and information sciences. The current plan calls for similar additions over a period of eight years, bringing the total enrollment in these fields to about 24,000 students in 2005-06.
Student/Faculty Ratio Information: UC enrollments are expected to be at an all-time high in 1999-2000. With a funded student-faculty ratio of 18.7 to one, UC will employ about the same number of faculty in 1999-2000 as it did in 1990-1991 (when the ratio was 17.6 to 1) but enroll about 9,000 more students. (In the Regents’ meeting discussion, one of the board members asked how much money would be needed to return to a 17.5 to 1 ratio; Vice President Hershman estimated the cost at $75 M.)
Library Initiative: With the goal of reducing an annual library budgetary shortfall that exceeds $39 million, UC is requesting $7.5 million as the first phase of a multi-year plan to address the needs of the campus libraries’ print collections, continue the development of the digital library, and increase the sharing of library materials across campuses. UC notes that “for the foreseeable future, electronic information resources will complement, rather than supplant, traditional collections, requiring the University to support existing collections and services in parallel with the development of digital library services.”
Continued Funding for Core Needs: If the State’s fiscal resources permit, UC will request that the $70M provided in 1998-99 to adress critical needs in deferred maintenance, insturctional technology, instructional equipment, and library collections be continued in 1999-2000.