State Officials Work on Solution for CSUCI Funding

Cal State University officials said Tuesday they are confident they can soon address lingering issues holding up state funding for Ventura County’s emerging public university.

In unveiling his preliminary budget for fiscal year 2000-01, Gov. Gray Davis put off granting a $10-million request for Cal State University Channel Islands until CSU officials make more progress on developing a campus in Stockton.

Specifically, Davis wants the Cal State University system’s Board of Trustees to figure out what went wrong with efforts to establish a range of income-generating ventures aimed at offsetting operating costs for the Stockton campus, a satellite branch of Cal State Stanislaus.

CSU officials, meeting Tuesday for the first time since Davis released his spending plan Jan. 10, said they are currently studying ways to boost revenue for the Stockton satellite center.

They hope to complete the study in time to show the results to Davis and convince him to provide the money for Channel Islands in his May budget update.

“We expect that study to be completed by April 1 so we can have the information available in preparation for the May revision,” said Richard West, senior vice chancellor for business and finance for the university system. “I think it’s the expectation of the governor to try to work out a strategy [for keeping Stockton solvent], and that’s what we’re trying to do.”

The $10-million Channel Islands allocation would have allowed planners to start searching for faculty to craft the academic programs necessary to open the campus on schedule in 2002 at the former Camarillo State Hospital. Since last fall, the campus has operated as a satellite of Cal State Northridge.

Davis’ actions angered county leaders, who argued that the local campus was being penalized for unrelated problems at the Stockton site.

At least one board member agreed. Trustee Anthony Vitti said he was dismayed by Davis’ decision to link funding for the two campuses.

“We are now stuck with this situation where one is tied to the other,” Vitti told his fellow board members. “We’re not sure what it means or how it will play out. It could have a drastic impact on our plans.”

The move was not unexpected. Davis told CSU officials late last month that he had intended to link the campuses because of their similar development plans.

In both cases, CSU officials are converting closed mental hospitals into college campuses.

Both are currently satellite campuses of existing Cal State universities.

And both are counting on leasing unused buildings and launching commercial ventures to raise money for expansion.

The similarities, however, end there. Stockton will remain a branch campus of Cal State Stanislaus, but the Camarillo site is expected to evolve into a full-fledged, independent institution by fall 2002.

Moreover, the Stockton campus has made little headway on its plan for tapping private development, while the Camarillo campus has signed private tenants, drawn up a blueprint for development around the campus core and established a nonprofit agency responsible for luring commercial ventures to the 630-acre property.

Channel Islands officials also have scored big in their efforts to raise private donations to support a range of university projects.

That campaign was highlighted Tuesday when CSU trustees authorized the acquisition of 35 acres--to be purchased with a $150,000 grant--to serve as the first link in an open-space corridor adjacent to the campus.

CSU officials said it will probably require some kind of state subsidy to offset an ecpected shortfall.

But as they hammer out a plan to help keep the campus afloat, they say they have gained valuable experience for how to plan for the Channel Islands campus.

“The lessons learned from Stockton have really helped us at Channel Islands,” CSU Chancellor Charles B. Reed said. “It’s really made it quite a different deal.”