On top of previous budget cuts and tuition increases, Gov. Sonny Perdue issued a directive requiring state agencies to submit 4, 6 and 8 percent reduction plans for fiscal year 2011.

The Board of Regents approved the University’s reduction plan proposals, and the Regents will submit them to Perdue’s office by Sept. 1.

The state has already begun withholding 4 percent from the University. At the 4 percent level, the total amount cut from the University System of Georgia is $77 million. At the 6 percent level, the budget will be reduced by a cumulative amount of $115 million, and at the 8 percent level, the budget will be reduced by a cumulative $154 million.

For the University, this means a $16 million dollar reduction at the 4 percent level. It could also mean buildings without

air-conditioning and delayed building maintenance, according to the proposal submitted to the Board of Regents. The University faces a $2 million reduction in maintenance funding.

“The general repair and operating status of the buildings themselves will begin to deteriorate and that will be noticeable,” said Tim Burgess, vice president for finance and administration. “I think if these cuts happen, there will be a very visible impact on the way this campus looks and operates. With those kinds of reductions, we won’t be able to respond to all of the building needs as quickly. If the air-conditioning goes out, it may take a week to get it fixed. Those things will begin to happen.”

John Millsaps, spokesman for the Board of Regents, said he knows it’s not easy for universities to cut even more from their budgets.

“The campuses have already told us there is no new well to go to for these cuts. All the easy things at the system level have been done,” Millsaps said, citing no new salary increases for this year.

When everything “easy,” has been cut, it comes time for tough decisions. At the 4 percent level, the College of Agriculture may eliminate 13 full-time positions and one part-time position. Without taking the newest cuts into account, the college has lost 236 positions between 2008 and 2010.

“We have no one left to retire, and we can’t really move any more staff to private funds,” said Scott Angle, dean of the College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences. “We have to lay off people. We have no choice.”

The College of Agriculture’s extension services are part of the University’s “B” budget. The University’s budget is divided into two components — the A and B units.

The A unit is the resident instructional portion of the budget, and the B unit supports cooperative extension and outreach in the state. Most of the College of Agriculture’s budget, some 82 percent, is agricultural research and information transfer, so tuition has no effect on that portion.

“A lot of people think if tuition is going up, then the budget problems are solved,” Angle said. “That’s not true at this college. In fact, things here appear to be getting worse and worse. We’re not capable of fulfilling our mission based upon our current level of funding.”

Millsaps sympathizes with the fact that the University must lay off valuable personnel, but he said everyone in the state feels the effects of the uncertain economy.

“It’s a part of a national landscape, and this national recession continues to hit states extremely hard,” Millsaps said. “It’s unfortunate that at a time when we have a growing a population and growing demands and services, you see reductions in states’ abilities to meet those needs. It calls for tough decisions.”

According to instructions given by the Governor’s Office of Planning and Budget, there will be no furloughs in the reduction plans.

In addition to the “no furlough” rule, Burgess said “there are no deliberate individual pay cuts in any of this.”

Josh Delaney, president of Student Government Association, said students and employees are asked to make sacrifices in times of the budget crisis, but he wants it to be equal across the board.

“Students have to make sacrifices, and many employees are left without jobs because we don’t have money to hire them,” Delaney said. “There’s no reason why all levels at the University shouldn’t make some sacrifices.”

Delaney said he understands schools can’t avoid budget reductions, but he wants students to have more of a voice in deciding what will be cut from the budget.

“I’m not going to say we’re shut out, but we’re not in the conversation enough,” Delaney said. “We want to help brainstorm and figure out how to make the university a better place and save our academic mission.”

However, Millsaps said students should not feel like a targeted group of the budget crisis -— other state agencies are getting hit as well.

“While it is tough on students, I don’t think any of us should feel like higher education has been singled out,” Millsaps said. “In fact, the governor and the general assembly have gone to great lengths to help and protect students in that regard, but they’re not immune. It’s a challenging situation, and students should never feel like they’ve been singled out or that they’re carrying the entire burden of this recession.”

And what does the future hold for students and professors in the University system?

“Honestly, we don’t know what’s going to happen. We all hope that the revenue reports continue to show positive trends, but we can’t predict that,” Millsaps said. “The governor and the general assembly have been prudent and wise in anticipating the worst.”