Published 2012-12-11T20:33:00Z”/>

Aubrey Crosby

After six years of frozen salaries, California State University employees could receive a pay raise pending the approval of the state budget.

The CSU board of trustees sent a request to the state Legislature asking for $372 million in funding for the system’s 2013-2014 budget.

The request asks for a pay increase for employees and additional funding for enrollment growth and the maintenance of university facilities, according to a CSU press release.

The budget could increase salaries of CSU faculty, staff and management by 3 percent, or a total of about $86 million, said Stephanie Thara, a spokeswoman for the CSU.

The 2010, 2011 and 2012 support budgets each asked for a 3 percent compensation pool as well, but were all declined by the governor and Legislature, Thara said.

Twelve years ago, state funding made up about 82 percent of the CSU budget, Chico State President Paul Zingg said in a conference with The Orion. Now the state only provides about 45 percent of the system’s budget.

If Gov. Jerry Brown and the California Legislature approve the budget, it will result in the first faculty pay raise since July 2007.

The California Faculty Association, the largest union representing faculty and staff of the CSU, encouraged the budget proposal, said Brian Ferguson, a representative for the CFA.

“The CSU management did the right thing asking for the 3 percent increase,” he said. “It’s an ambitious request, and if passed it will make up the inequities for faculty over the past few years.”

With the passage of Proposition 30, the state is in a better place to provide for state-supported organizations, Ferguson said.

“We’re trying to remain optimistic that the governor will approve it,” he said.

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<strong>Aubrey Crosby can be reached at</strong> <a href=”mailto:[email protected]”><em>[email protected]</em></a>