By Dylan Smith, Managing Editor
This past January, Gov. Gavin Newsom released the state budget proposal for 2025-2026 fiscal year, announcing a $375 million reduction to the 23-campus California State University system—a near 8-percent cut.
This followed his previous budget proposal in June, which cut state funding in a bid to help reduce California’s near $47 billion deficit. CSU officials are bracing for a projected $400-800 million deficit to its $8.3 billion base operating budget.
Since the start of the school year, as concerns about the cuts spread among CSUDH students, faculty, and staff, university officials hosted a series of town halls to answer their questions. During one such meeting on Nov. 6, CSUDH budget director Nick Norimoto said the university planned to cut $12 million from next year’s budget.
During the meeting, Norimoto mentioned the state compact, a plan aimed at increasing the CSU system’s budget by 5 percent over the next five years. However, Norimoto stated that due to economic decline in California, the plan was “likely” to fall through—adding that the state intends to cut the CSU-system from the state’s funding allocation. Instead, the state will defer the budget increase until the 2027-2028 fiscal year.
Previously, at a similar meeting on Oct. 10, Norimoto explained that campus resident enrollment had surged during the COVID-19 pandemic, peaking around 13,740 students during the 2020-2021 academic year.
Norimoto provided enrollment data showing that two years ago, the campus couldn’t reach its co-resident enrollment target—the necessary number of enrolled students a CSU institution needs to maintain funding. During the 2022-2023 academic year DH had around 11,569 students—154 students short of the target.
Each CSU campus follows what is called an “XYZ” enrollment target formula. Introduced by the CSU Chancellor’s Office, this formula categorizes campuses into one of three groups (X, Y, or Z) based on their enrollment numbers relative to their targets.
Norimoto explained that CSU campuses in the “X” group fall short of their enrollment target by 10 percent. Institutions in this category have their funding reallocated to campuses that firmly meet or exceed their enrollment target—those would be in the “Z” group.
Based on current enrollment figures, Norimoto projected that CSUDH would fall into the “Y” group this year. He explained that campuses in that group are below their targets but within an acceptable threshold. In other words, CSUDH is in financial limbo—the university wouldn’t lose state funding but it wouldn’t receive any more, either.
Last November, Vice Provost of Academic Affairs Ken O’Donnell said declining enrollment trends were evident even before COVID-19. He noted that even during the pandemic’s enrollment boom, patterns suggested it would be a temporary increase.
“I think we’re running the risk of a vicious circle where we cut classes and people stop coming,” O’Donnell said. “So we have to cut more classes and then no one comes.”
O’Donnell added that he believed that people who had “dislodged from the campus” after the pandemic stayed with the CSU system out of habit, reasoning that since everyone was indoors, they might as well continue their education.
Norimoto said CSUDH officials had met with the Chancellor’s Office to “right-size” the campus budget and enrollment targets, along with reducing spending across the university’s divisions.
O’Donnell said the university had hoped to avoid layoffs to faculty and staff, and that it would reduce the pool of non-tenure track faculty. Further, the university would keep vacant positions unfilled as a management strategy to prevent cuts for as long as possible.
“It’s kind of chaotic, but it beats telling people they don’t have a job anymore,” O’Donnell said.
However, on Jan. 24, CSUDH President Thomas A. Parham emailed faculty and staff informing them that the university had “made the painful decision to issue layoff notices to a number of our valued employees.” The president said the decision was “not made lightly” and the result of “significant financial constraints facing our institution.”
“CSUDH is in a time of transition, which we must confront head-on as we work toward building a new normal at our university,” Parham wrote. “I have the deepest sympathy for those directly impacted by these moves, and for our entire community as we navigate these changes.”
In an email to The Bulletin on Feb. 13, a university spokesperson said CSUDH had laid off “more than 30 staff.” That same day, CSUDH hosted another budget town hall. O’Donnell said the Academic Affairs department started reducing managers university-wide, canceling searches for new tenure-track faculty, and adjusting class schedules.
During the town hall meeting, O’Donnell mentioned three main factors contributing to the university’s financial issues: growing costs, shrinking state support, and shrinking enrollment. O’Donnell was pleased to mention that enrollment narrowly increased by 0.2 percent from 2023 to 2024, though he didn’t provide an exact figure.
Student and faculty services have already begun to feel the impact of the budget reductions. The Bulletin previously reported that Toros Athletics would see a 9-percent cut to its overall budget, and Cain Library has scaled back operating hours.
The budget cuts would also impact other operational expenses, according to Norimoto, such as limiting CSUDH’s fundraising efforts and sponsorship opportunities.
William Franklin, the vice president of student affairs, said the university was exploring several options to reduce expenses for Toros Athletics, such as contracting with a bus company and hotel chains for away games.
“It’s just not where it was before COVID, where we were offering all kinds of classes,” said Penny Roebuck-White, an academic advisor for the Communications Department. “We had to open additional sections, but because of the budget, you know, they are being very conservative.”
Roebuck-White said many Toros have expressed frustration that certain classes are unavailable. She said those students feel “stuck” and forced to wait for courses to become available.
“It’s like this vicious cycle, there’s so many components in it,” Roebuck-White said, adding that tenure-track faculty have picked up the slack. She lamented that fewer courses offer “specialized teaching” from experts in their fields, noting that it makes a big difference for students.
O’Donnell recommends that Toros secure their spots in courses as early as possible and exercise caution when scheduling, given the competition for seats. He also advises students to inform their advisors if they can’t find a particular class so they can contact Academic Affairs.
Kamran Hosseinzadeh, a senior journalism major, said they are learning to roll with the punches on campus. Hosseinzadeh was often unable to enroll in classes of interest, even though these classes were offered at other schools. Hosseinzadeh recommends that students focus both on courses required for graduation and classes they are curious about, so faculty have a better gauge of students’ interests.
Hosseinzadeh said they know faculty members really want to offer the classes students want, and wishes the university could do more with its resources.
“I think there are a lot of factors in the 360-degrees of it all,” Hosseinzadeh” I don’t think it’s one-sided.”
