Thank you, Chair Fong. Good morning Trustees, university Presidents, Chancellor Koester, and all gathered today.

My name is Dominic Quan Treseler, and I have the distinct privilege of serving as the President of the Cal State Student Association (CSSA). My journey in student advocacy extends over two years at my home campus, San Jose State, enriched by invaluable experiences gained while serving my community within the local offices of my congressional and state representatives. Today, it is an honor to represent our diverse student community from across the CSU system. With me stand the dedicated and passionate 2023/2024 CSSA Executive Officers:

Our Chair, Varenya Gupta, is entering his second term in this role. Varenya, a Computer Science major at San Luis Obispo, provides strong and consistent leadership.

Our Vice President of Systemwide Affairs, Genesis Galilea Pompa from Cal Poly Pomona, ensures our actions are always in the best interests of the entire CSU system, leveraging her vast knowledge and expertise. Galilea started her journey in advocacy by serving on her ASI election committee chair and going on to serve as Secretary of External Affairs.

Our Vice President of Legislative Affairs, Samantha Alvarez Chavarria from Dominguez Hills, tirelessly advocates for the rights and needs of our students at the legislative level. They began their career in advocacy as a legislative affairs ASI intern on their campus which led to them becoming Director of legislative affairs the following year.

Lastly, our Vice President of Finance, Alex Cruz also from Cal Poly Pomona. His attention to our fiscal responsibilities is instrumental in promoting the welfare of CSU students. Last year Alex had the opportunity to serve as treasurer for his ASI and hopes to one day teach as a professor on a CSU campus.

We are also thrilled to welcome Genesis Jara (HA-RA) to the role of Assistant Director of Systemwide Affairs. Her extensive experience, including serving as a field representative for United States Congressman, Robert Garcia, and her involvement with Long Beach State and CSSA, will be invaluable to our mission.

I would also like to introduce Mary Washington, our Interim Executive Director. Unfortunately, Mary was not able to join us today, as she is in Sacramento, however, Mary brings a wealth of leadership experience from her role as Assistant Director of Government Relations for CSSA. We believe Mary’s tenure, albeit temporary, will have a profound, lasting impact on CSSA and the broader CSU community.

In her role, Mary will provide essential leadership as we navigate the recruitment process for a permanent Executive Director. We are determined to find an individual who will maintain our high standards and guide us into the future with vision and a commitment to serving our students.

Congratulations to Trustee Jonathan Molina Mancio and Trustee Darlene Yee on their recent appointments to the Board. We look forward to collaborating with you to further enhance our CSU students’ lives.

I wish to express my gratitude to Trustees Linares and Sabalius for their tireless dedication to the CSU. Your welcoming and supportive attitudes have made a significant difference, and we eagerly await your future contributions to our communities.

The CSSA represents nearly half a million students in the CSU and serves as their official voice to the California State Legislature and the CSU Board of Trustees. On their behalf, I am honored to provide this report.

This past weekend, CSSA hosted our July orientation and our first Board of Directors meeting for the 2023-2024 academic year.

Over the coming months, our board will work diligently to identify our policy agenda for the upcoming year, addressing critical issues such as affordable housing, the total cost of attendance, and Financial Aid Reform.

Recent Supreme Court decisions impacting affirmative action, first amendment LGBTQIA protections, and student loan debt have raised significant concerns about their potential effects on our students. Nonetheless, CSSA remains committed to increasing diversity, protecting students of all backgrounds, and ensuring the affordability of the CSU system.

We are also acutely aware of the need for balance between fiscal responsibility and maintaining access to education for all students. While it is indeed a great honor to serve as the representative voice of the students, the weight of this role compels me to raise a pressing concern over CSU’s proposed tuition increase.

As the largest and most diverse university system in our nation, the CSU serves our state’s most underserved and vulnerable populations, and has been a beacon of hope and a catalyst for upward mobility for these communities, the state, and the nation. However, the proposed 6% tuition increase comes at a time when students are grappling with an unprecedented rise in the total cost of basic needs, a financial aid crisis, and declining enrollment. This proposal undermines the CSU’s fundamental tenets to “transform lives and drive California’s economy.”

We understand that the system is facing unprecedented revenue challenges with state funding and tuition being its two primary revenue sources. However, this proposal does not serve the best interest of students. The average Higher Education Price Index over the past three years has been 3.25%. Proposing an increase of 6% , in our view, is staggering, disproportionate and will burden students, many of whom are still grappling with the aftermath of the pandemic and rising costs of living. An increase in tuition this high will inevitably prolong students’ graduation timelines and result in first-generation students paying almost 40% more to graduate than when they started. Students should not bear an inequitable burden of addressing revenue shortfalls for the system, especially when the proposal does not clearly articulate how the system will work to generate other revenue sources.

We also find the proposal troubling due to its lack of measurable outcomes. We firmly believe that any such significant tuition increase must include clearly defined targets that articulate the expected improvements in student services, campus facilities, or educational resources. The absence of such quantifiable targets in the proposal calls into question the direct benefits this increase would bring to our students.

Moreover, the CSU has not indicated a clear end date for this proposal, effectively giving students a three-month notice on a proposal that could continue indefinitely.  The Working Families Student Fee Transparency and Accountability Act mandates the CSU to notify the CSSA when tuition increases are proposed. An indefinite increase would mean the system no longer needs to consult with CSSA in the future, which we believe contravenes the spirit of the law. A policy review by the Board every five years is not equivalent to the Board presenting a new tuition proposal to the CSSA every five years.

While the CSSA acknowledges and appreciates the funding dedicated to the State University Grant program, we strongly believe that this program, although important, must be fundamentally revised to address the students’ total cost of attendance, not merely tuition and fees.

Finally, we must express our profound concern over the proposed plan’s glaring omission: a lack of dedication towards bolstering financial aid and addressing students’ basic needs. Although the proposal implies a tuition hike, it offers no guarantees for equivalent improvements in these crucial areas.

According to the CSU, 60% of our students heavily rely on financial aid. Thus, any tuition increase should come with a simultaneous boost in support for these students. This stark reality underscores the dire need for an all-encompassing Cal Grant Reform, set to be implemented in the 2024-25 academic year. As our students are on the brink of potentially facing a significant, multi-year tuition increase, it becomes critical for the institution and students to band together, champion this reform, and lobby to ensure its inclusion in the upcoming year’s state budget.

Furthermore, the proposal’s neglect in addressing the provision of resources to meet students’ basic needs is deeply troubling. Students of today, more than ever, require increased assistance to afford essential needs like food, housing, and healthcare. The proposal’s silence on these matters is a stark contrast to the needs of the students it purports to serve.

At Sunday’s board meeting, another salient issue was highlighted by one of our directors: by 2028, the proposed tuition increase will surpasses the financial support provided by the Pell Grant. The claim in response was that as the Pell Grant benefits only a small portion of students, the impact of this disparity would be minimal. This, however, is misleading, as nearly half of the system’s undergraduate enrollment—approximately 230,000 students—receive Pell Grants.

This reaction shows a troubling disregard for the future needs of our most vulnerable students, particularly in the context of the recent decision to expand the reach of the Pell Grant. This oversight once again underscores the shortfalls of the current tuition increase proposal, which seemingly fails to account for the escalating total cost of attendance for students. Such a perspective is not just unacceptable, but it also detracts from our collective goal of ensuring the highest possible level of accessibility and affordability in education for all students.

In essence, the proposed 6% tuition increase, without clear goals and a solid commitment to improve financial aid and basic needs support, does not serve the best interests of CSU students.

While we agree that multi-year budget planning is crucial for the system, we argue that the Board should not adopt a proposal with no specified end date, no guaranteed provisions for financial aid help, no mention of basic needs, very little justification for the amount of the increase and no mention of measurable outcomes to show students what they are contributing to.

As the CSSA, we stand strongly in opposition  of the indefinite tuition increase to the proposal that is set to be discussed at the upcoming Committee on Finance meeting.

I would like to take a moment to remind everyone present that the principal stakeholders of this system are not its administrators, faculty members, or staff, but the students themselves. We caution that a continuation with the current proposal may precipitate a significant drop in student enrollment, which would lead us to the same place we are now.

We respectfully request the CSU to reassess this proposal, taking into serious consideration the concerns we have raised. The CSSA is keen to sustain an ongoing dialogue with members of the Chancellor’s Office and the Board to fully address these issues.

Through our collective efforts, we can surmount these challenges and uphold our common values. By doing so, I am confident we can ensure a more promising future for every student within the CSU system.

Thank you Chair Fong, that concludes my report.

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