CSUN Cancels Fall Nursing Program : Education: A $184,000 grant was intended to start an advanced degree program, but it received no state funding.

In response to dwindling state funds, Cal State Northridge officials said Monday that they have canceled a nursing program scheduled to begin in the fall.

The proposed program, which has received a $184,000 corporate donation but no state money, will probably open in the fall of 1993, said Brian T. Malec, chairman of CSUN’s Health Science Department.

Malec said campus officials feared that once the private funds were spent, there would be no state money to continue classes, leaving students without a chance to graduate.

“This is just an example of how severe the cuts are,” Malec said. “We thought it would be wiser to delay the program and get the money first.”

Cal State campuses have been bracing for cuts of 6% to 8% for the 1992-93 school year. But campus officials will not know the full extent of the cuts--which some predict could be as much as 11.5%--until the Legislature and Gov. Pete Wilson agree on a state budget for the coming fiscal year, which begins July 1.

CSUN President James Cleary has predicted that one-third of the school’s teaching staff will not return for the fall semester because of the expected $12-million budget shortfall.

Malec said that despite a $184,000 donation from Kaiser Permanente, he has decided against starting the new nursing program until state funding is available. The Kaiser money is only enough to operate the program for two years, but Malec said most students will need three to four years to finish.

“Once the seed money was spent, there was no state money to fall back on,” Malec said.

The money was to be used to hire two full-time and four or five part-time teachers.

About 20 people were scheduled to start the program, which is intended to provide registered nurses with an advanced degree in nursing. Malec said Kaiser donated the money because there is a shortage of nurses.