Sonoma State is facing a projected budget deficit of $23.9 million, and the California State University system as a whole could be staring down a $1 billion shortfall in the 2025–26 academic year as funding and enrollment both shrink while costs continue to rise.
Sonoma State’s enrollment has plummeted 38% from its 2015 peak, Cutrer said in a message to the campus community, and efforts it has already made to trim spending are not enough.
Leaders of the CSU Employees Union, which represents thousands of support staff at Sonoma State and the system’s 22 other campuses, blasted the deep cuts and said they will be meeting with students “to make plans to fight for a better path forward.”
“Sonoma State’s plan for massive layoffs and elimination of whole programs — including student athletics — can only mean one thing: The University is waving a white flag and signaling it sees no future for itself,” said Michael Cullinane, a 21-year employee of the Sonoma State library and president of the campus’ CSUEU chapter. “A campus with very few courses, no athletics, and a workforce so reduced they struggle to meet the needs of their student body is not going to attract prospective students.”
Nicholas Arnold, who works in information technology at Sonoma State, said staff members were shocked by the breadth and scale of the cuts.
“People knew that layoffs were on the table, but I don’t know that people knew the extent of what that would look like,” said Arnold, who is also a CSUEU labor representative. “I’m not surprised that there were cuts. I just don’t know that we’re going to be able to solve the budget issues by eliminating staff.”