Fearing drain on academic programs, teachers urge school to limit money for Green Center

With construction of the Green Music Center about to begin, some Sonoma State University faculty members fear the concert hall may be a drain on academic programs.

In a mild rebuke to university leaders, faculty representatives adopted a resolution Thursday urging the administration to limit funding for the Green Center, a signature project at the school.

"The bottom line is that we can't afford another $620,000 out of our academic affairs budget," said Rick Luttmann, a math professor who sponsored the resolution in the Academic Senate.

Luttmann's resolution, which passed on a 20-12 vote, reflected a sense within the faculty that they weren't properly consulted when the school conceived plans for the music hall.

The music hall, named for principal donor Don Green, a Telecom Valley pioneer, is a pet project of Sonoma State President Ruben Armi?na.

Compared by some to Tanglewood, the Lenox, Mass., summer home to the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the Green Center will be built near Petaluma Hill Road, northeast of the Rohnert Park campus, and is expected to open in 2008.

The $63.1 million concert hall, which will include classrooms and performance space, is being built with $46.1 million in donated money and $17 million in state funds.

A nonprofit group will be created to raise money and run community programs, including a concert series. The university expects to spend $620,000 a year for academic programs affiliated with the Green Center.

Luttmann's resolution urged school officials to find an outside source for the academic costs as it did for construction, saying the budget already is stretched.

His resolution was criticized by Sara Statler of Penngrove, a theater major and student member of the Academic Senate.

"Everyone needs money, but to say no money should go to the Green Music Center, my feelings are hurt, it says my studies are not important," Statler said. "I'm offended. Maybe you don't think the arts are valuable."

The resolution is nonbinding. The administration has sole authority over budget matters, while the Academic Senate is the faculty voice regarding curriculum.

But campus officials say that such a resolution is not viewed lightly by the administration.

"I agree with 75 percent of the resolution," said Eduardo Ochoa, the university's vice president of academic affairs. "It's appropriate that the academic affairs only spend money on supporting the Green Music Center for its academic mission."

He said the school expects to attract more students and collect more revenue by 2008, with some of the increase driven by the Green Center.

The school projects a $6 million boost in revenue, which he said would be more than enough to cover the $620,000 in academic costs for the Green Center.

The university's annual academic budget is $30 million.

Ochoa also said the administration will work to make sure faculty members feel they are being properly consulted as the center nears completion.