University implements large cutbacks throughout its colleges
February 23, 2009 by CAREY ONEIL
Filed under News
The University is cutting $24 million out of the budget for 2009, more than 480 times the average American’s yearly income.
The $24 million comes from a 6 percent reduction in each University department’s budget, costing individual schools and colleges anywhere from approximately $200,000 to $5.5 million.
The amount of cuts to different schools and colleges depends on the size of their original budgets.
Don Perry, senior director for finance and administration for the Terry College, said he felt lucky that his department had not been forced to implement any drastic measures to meet the $1.7 million cuts his department is facing.
“We’ve been pretty fortunate, we’ve not had to cut a lot of programs,” he said in a phone interview Tuesday. “We’ve just looked at how we could save money.”
The best way to meet the budget is to focus on small items that can be cut without a large impact, Perry said.
“We’re trying to focus more on general operation and travel,” he said. “We’ve had some cuts to staff, but those are based more on attrition. We haven’t laid anyone off.”
Though jobs have been retained, saving money through job attrition can have its drawbacks, he said.
“It does create somewhat of a challenge depending on some of the staff,” Perry said. “We lost an adviser and we just channeled those responsibilities to another office that deals with undergraduate programs. We just took advising out of the department.”
Also facing a $1.7 million reduction, the College of Education hasn’t been as lucky when it comes to layoffs, according to Dean Andy Horne.
“We’ve had a number of part-time faculty that we’ve had to let go because we can’t afford them,” Horne said in a phone interview Thursday. “The people currently employed full time are staying employed.”
Horne said his main goal was to maintain the quality of the college’s academic programs.
“We’re trying to keep a strong emphasis on our teacher education programs. The state needs the teachers,” he said. “Right now we’re going through a process of examining all the programs in the college to see which ones should be collapsed and how to allocate resources.”
To maintain quality classes, Horne said he’s been forced to cut back in research and community outreach.
“A number of our programs are nationally ranked, and that’s based on service and research that’s been done,” he said, adding that cutbacks in these areas may hurt the school’s national reputation.
Scott Angle, dean and director of the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, said his department is using similar methods to deal with even higher budget cuts.
Angle said his college’s budget is one of the largest at the University because it receives direct state funding. With state budget cuts, he said his department had seen a 9 percent reduction, adding to the $660,000 cutbacks he was already dealing with from the University.
Angle’s department is preparing for even higher reductions in the future, he said in a phone interview Wednesday.
“When we first saw the budget begin to look ominous, we tried to project into our crystal ball, and we still believe this year we’re looking at 10 percent budget cuts.”
“To get there, we initiated a program where anyone who is willing to retire does so and those positions not be replaced,” Angle said. “The budget cuts have all been met and their salary savings become the money that we give back to the state.”
When cutting the budget, Angle said his college had two priorities.
“One, to prevent layoffs,” Angle said. “Secondly, we’re trying to minimize the impact on students, particularly undergraduate students.”
Though every college has had a tough time with their budget, some schools haven’t yet decided what areas will face cutbacks.
Denise Horton, director of communication for the College of Family and Consumer Sciences, said the specific programs her department will reduce to meet their $538,000 cuts are still being decided.
“My understanding at this point is that they’ve submitted proposed budgets to the Provost, but nothing is set,” Horton said in a phone interview Wednesday.
Horton said it was difficult to say anything about the final form of the budget.
“The budget situation at the general assembly is just too fluid.”
Regardless of department, budget cuts create a serious, though often necessary problem.
As Perry pointed out, “These are extreme times.”
