San Diego State President Elliot Hirshman, Provost Nancy Marlin and colleagues addressed Associated Students at the A.S. student council orientation on Wednesday to discuss strategic planning for the current academic school year.

The theme of the orientation, Hirshman noted, was SDSU’s budget.

In an effort to gain financial stabilization, Hirshman said SDSU is “pursuing a lot of initiatives to be super lean,” but maximizing resources for efficiency will prove challenging.

Hirshman referred to SDSU’s financial challenges as “formidable” and “unprecedented,” but added SDSU will not only meet those challenges, but become “better and stronger” as a result.

Marlin said SDSU has made sig- nificant reductions across all academic areas, including SDSU’s tenured and tenure-track faculty. The problem with continuing to cut resources, Marlin said, is maintaining quality education at SDSU.

Marlin said the cuts also hinder SDSU’s ability to carry out quality research. SDSU is the only research school within the California State University system and was the number one small research university in the country from 2006, according to News Center.

According to Marlin, SDSU is looking to increase the number of out-of-state and international students in an effort to generate more revenue.

Hirshman said SDSU is also turning to private funding to meet university expectations. The University is in the fifth year of a seven-year fundraiser with a goal to raise $500 million. So far, the fundraiser has raised more than $340 million.

Hirshman, Marlin and other speakers at the council meeting addressed A.S., reminding it to take part in SDSU’s success in the current academic year.

“Leadership starts here,” Hirshman said to A.S. council. “It’s not a slogan, it’s an ethos. That ethos, that leadership ethos, is what we do best.”

A.S. council meetings are open to the public and take place at 3:30 p.m. every Wednesday in the Parma Payne Goodall Alumni Center.