What Sonoma State’s Massive Budget Cuts Mean for the University’s Future

KQED's Forum

KQED

Politics, News, News Commentary

4.6 • 656 Ratings

🗓️ 6 February 2025

⏱️ 57 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Facing a $24 million deficit, Sonoma State University has announced plans to eliminate six academic departments, lay off dozens of faculty and end intercollegiate athletics. Sonoma State officials say the university was forced to act due to a nearly 40 percent dip in enrollment and a decline in state funding, at a time when costs to run the university are on the rise. But many students and faculty members say they were blindsided by the cuts and are calling on officials to reconsider. We’ll check in with SSU’s interim president and others in the campus community. Guests: Emma Williams, sophomore, dance and history major, Sonoma State University Marisa Endicott, reporter, Santa Rosa Press Democrat Don Romesburg, chair of Department of Women's and Gender Studies, Sonoma State University; author, "Contested Curriculum: LGBTQ History Goes to School, out in April" from Rutgers University Press. Emily Cutrer, interim president, Sonoma State University Taylor Hodges, sophomore, communications major, Sonoma State University; member of SSU's soccer team Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Support for Forum comes from Rancho La Puerta, a wellness resort on 4,000 acres in the mountains of Baja, California, just 45 minutes from San Diego.
0:09.4	Family owned and operated since 1940, Rancho La Pueerta offers adult summer camp-like vacations for anyone who enjoys hiking, mindfulness, and fitness classes.
0:19.8	Special rates and offers are available for summer stays and
0:23.3	first-time guests. Learn more at Rancho LePuerta.com. Support for Forum comes from Broadway
0:29.4	SF, presenting Parade, the musical revival based on a true story. From three-time Tony-winning composer
0:36.8	Jason Robert Brown comes the story of Leo and Lucille Frank, a new story. From three-time Tony-winning composer Jason Robert Brown comes the story of Leo and
0:39.9	Lucille Frank, a newlywed Jewish couple struggling to make a life in Georgia. When Leo is accused
0:46.6	of an unspeakable crime, it propels them into an unimaginable test of faith, humanity, justice,
0:53.6	and devotion. The riveting and gloriously hopeful parade
0:57.8	plays the Orphium Theater for three weeks only, May 20th through June 8th. Tickets on sale now
1:04.6	at Broadway, sF.com.
1:08.3	From KQED.
1:09.8	Music From KQED. From KQED. From KQED.
1:25.7	Faced with a brutal budget deficit that had been growing for years,
1:28.4	the interim president of Sonoma State University announced plans to eliminate academic departments,
1:34.8	lay off dozens of faculty, and end the university's Division II Intercollegiate Athletics Program.
1:41.5	Faculty, students, and staff are understandably very mad, but
1:45.9	slash and enrollment has declined 40% since the years before the pandemic. We'll be joined by
1:52.7	the interim president, students, and critics. It's all coming up next right after this news.
2:12.3	Welcome to Forum.
2:13.8	I'm Alexis Madrigal.
2:17.1	It's been a tumultuous few years up at Sonoma State. Two university presidents have
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from KQED, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of KQED and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.