California Faculty Association members at Sonoma State walk the “Hope” box filled with written messages of hope to the president’s office at Salazar Hall.
Ashley Metzger
Top Takeaways
- A year later, the university is struggling to recover from the pain of closing six academic departments, eliminating NCAA athletics and laying off about 25% of the faculty to address a $24 million budget deficit.
- Faculty and students reflect on losses at the “Hopes and Losses” event, sharing experiences and connecting with the new president.
- Some faculty members are skeptical of the proposals outlined by the University Budget Advisory Committee, and many students and faculty are still grieving over the losses.
A year ago, faculty and students at Sonoma State were stunned when the university made the difficult decision to close six academic departments, eliminate NCAA athletics and lay off about 25% of the faculty to address a $24 million budget deficit.
The pain of those cuts still lingers for many, including the California Faculty Association, which last week hosted “Hopes and Losses,” an event billed as an opportunity for students and faculty to reflect on the losses and share their experiences, and also connect with Sonoma State’s new president, Michael Spagna, the university’s fifth in five years.
Messages were posted on a whiteboard, placed in a box labeled “Hope” with a mug icon, and then carried to the president’s office in Salazar Hall.
“We wanted to create an event that can honor the fact that a lot of us are still in grief,” said Scott Horstein, the membership and organizing chair for the campus chapter of the CFA. “We don’t want to just pretend that we’re going to move on. … It’s affected us and affects everybody on campus in different ways.
“But at the same time,” Horstein added, “we can recognize that there’s a new opportunity for the university with a new president coming in who so far seems very engaged and hopefully can be a chance to rebuild.”
The university has struggled since the budget cuts, and the student population has declined 13%. But many students and faculty are hopeful that the new president and the $45 million in one-time funding that state legislators allocated to Sonoma State in the fall will mitigate some of the damage.
Victoria Weidhase, a senior at Sonoma State studying political science, was leaving class when she stopped to show her support at the Jan. 27 event. She noted that some of her friends left the school because their majors were not offered, and that some of her favorite professors had also departed.
When asked about how she felt about the new president, she said, “My hope for him is really that we’re going to stabilize and we’re going to stop spiraling down. It’s a bit weird being a senior here and going through four years with four different presidents.”
Horstein is the lone teacher remaining in the theater arts and dance department this year. His department was one of the university’s designated “teachout” programs, in which one professor was retained to allow continuing students a chance to complete their majors before the department closed at the end of the spring semester.
“In some ways, it’s been no different. But it is combined with an awareness that this could be the last time for any of this,” Horstein said. “I don’t have any new students this year, which is really strange.”
Horstein is worried he might lose his job at the end of this semester, but remains hopeful that the university will continue to offer some theater arts courses.
The University Budget Advisory Committee’s (UBAC) December report included a list of potential uses for the funding the university received this fall, which was delivered to President Spagna. One of the report’s intents was to establish general education courses in the areas affected by budget cuts, with some receiving their own minors.
Horstein said he felt optimistic about the advisory committee’s proposals.
“In terms of the theater proposal, I’m very much in support of it,” he said. “I would love for there to be a department and a major as there was before, but if there can’t be a department, I think what’s in the UBAC proposal is a good way forward to still have the arts be present on campus.”
Charlene Tung, a professor in the women’s and gender studies department (WGS), was more skeptical of the proposal for her department.
“The UBAC recommendations for a new WGS minor with so little funding attached does nothing for the department, though likely helps the university save face,” she said.
She said she was disheartened by the way the university treated her department, and has faced a difficult year despite community support.
“The students have been wonderful,” she said. “It is a privilege to be here for them and to see them through not only their degrees, but to co-create an academic space to examine and discuss the myriad of current challenges facing LGBTQ communities and BIPOC folks.”
“What we teach in WGS are heavy topics,” Tung said. “So, to not have a team to work with, supporting each other in our teaching and activism, has been difficult. The faculty remaining (in other departments) are demoralized or ducking and covering — hoping they are not next. That’s just my assessment. I hope I’m wrong.”
She said she hopes the administration is truly listening to their students, faculty and staff.
“Having a new president on board, however, is an opportunity to correct past wrongs and rebuild trust.”
Rylan Valdepena is a senior communications major at Sonoma State and a member of EdSource’s California Student Journalism Corps. Ashley Metzger is the editor-in-chief of the Sonoma State Star.