Would Change Budget to Force Hiring of Instructor : Roos Pressures CSUN on Armenian-Language Issue

Assemblyman Mike Roos (D-Los Angeles) has threatened to try to change the budget for the California State University system to force administrators at its Northridge campus to hire an Armenian language instructor if by May 1 the university has not found the money to hire one.

Armenian has been taught at CSUN for five years, but is not part of the school’s budget. It was first offered as an extension course, and then for credit with a volunteer instructor who was to be paid an honorarium by the CSUN Armenian Students Assn.

Roos said he wants the university by May 1 to have identified the money needed to hire a teacher or he and state Sen. William Campbell (R-Hacienda Heights) will add a line item to the CSU budget to compel CSUN to hire an instructor.

The political maneuver is necessary, Roos said, because the school has been slow to respond to the Armenian students.

Roos learned of the lack of university funding for a language teacher through a Los Angeles Times article sent to him by former Democratic Assemblyman Walter Karabian. Karabian said he got involved because he believed that a state university serving an area with the largest concentration of Armenians outside of Soviet Armenia has a responsibility to have a faculty member who can teach that language.

There are about 200,000 Armenians living in the Los Angeles area and about 750 students of Armenian descent among the 21,000 full-time CSUN students, according to Armenian student leaders.

In a letter to Karabian, Roos said that he found the status of the language class “intolerable” and that it “seems to be discriminatory against one of the largest and finest ethnic communities in the San Fernando Valley.”

CSUN officials said Roos’ ultimatum comes at a bad time. They are in the middle of discussions with two Armenian businessmen who may donate enough money to establish an Armenian studies program that would include language courses and courses in Armenian history and culture. University officials are concerned that the negotiations could break down if the businessmen misinterpret Roos’ action as providing the money for an Armenian studies program.

The ultimatum also has angered some Cal State Northridge officials who say it comes dangerously close to legislative interference into curriculum matters.

Moreover, CSUN administrators said they were never informed of any deadline for finding the money. But Roos and a top aide for Campbell are adamant that they informed school officials of the deadline.

“May 1 was chosen, because it falls during the height of the legislative budget season,” said Jerry Haleva, Campbell’s chief of staff. During this period, the two politicians could use their memberships on budget committees to change CSUN’s budget, he said.

Campbell is chairman of the Joint Legislative Budget Committee; Roos is a member of the Assembly Ways and Means Committee.

Student demand led to the creation of the CSUN Armenian class in 1983. At that time it was offered through the university’s extension program and was paid for with student fees.

But they became unhappy with the Armenian class being relegated to the extension program, complaining that lack of publicity about extension classes kept down enrollment. They asked the university to hire a professor and add the class to the regular curriculum.

CSUN officials said they were reluctant to comply with the request because demand for Armenian was too low to justify hiring an additional staff member.

Last year, for the first time, Armenian was offered for credit on an experimental basis through the foreign languages and literature department and was listed in the general CSUN course catalogue.

Enrollment increased to 37 students, more than three times the previous semester’s enrollment.

A volunteer instructor was found to whom the CSUN Armenian Students Assn. pledged an $800 to $1,200 honorarium. But by the middle of the semester, club members had not raised enough money to pay the salary. Once again, the students asked that the university pay for the class and hire a permanent Armenian language instructor.

Alvin Ford, chairman of the foreign languages department, said although he would like to hire an Armenian instructor, no money is available. He also said CSUN administrators are reluctant to hire a permanent instructor because Armenian is not part of an academic program that leads to a degree.

If the threatened Roos-Campbell amendment is successful, it would force CSUN officials to reduce the budget of another university department to pay for the language instructor’s salary. Typically, part-time assistant professors in the California State University system earn about $14,000 a year.

“Which program would they like us to reduce?” asked Dorena Knepper, CSUN’s director of governmental and administrative affairs. “We would have to rob one to fund another.”

Bob Suzuki, CSUN vice president for academic affairs, said curriculum matters should be made at the campus level by departments that know the needs of the university.

“We would hate to have the Legislature dictate curriculum,” Suzuki said.

As general rule, CSU officials oppose any state or federal legislation that tries to order the system to offer a particular course, according to Lee Kerschner, vice chancellor of academic affairs for the 19 CSU campuses.

“Curriculum is the prerogative of the faculty,” Kerschner said.

However, Kerschner declined to comment on the Roos-Campbell proposal because he said he has not had time to review it. He also refused to predict what position the system might take if Roos and Campbell try to amend the state budget and force CSUN to hire a language teacher.

The educators’ arguments against changing the budget have not dissuaded Roos and Campbell from going ahead with their plan.

“They routinely come to us with funding requests for their priorities and their needs,” Haleva said. “Now Campbell and Roos are coming to them with their priorities.”

Added Roos: “They don’t mind when we fund specific buildings. They shouldn’t mind when we want to fund a specific program.”