Universities continue to grapple with
impact of economic crisis
LIKE VIRTUALLY EVERY STATE IN THE NATION, Illinois is grappling with very real consequences of an economic crisis that is entering its second year.
With close to a $5 billion backlog in unpaid bills, the state does not have enough money to meet its constituents’ needs. Since the beginning of July, for instance, the University of Illinois has received only 7 percent of its state appropriations for the year, creating a shortfall of more than $400 million – and growing.
That was the message the university’s interim president, Stanley O.Ikenberry, delivered to the Illinois campus community earlier this month.With close to a $5 billion backlog in unpaid bills, the state does not have enough money to meet its constituents’ needs. Since the beginning of July, for instance, the University of Illinois has received only 7 percent of its state appropriations for the year, creating a shortfall of more than $400 million – and growing.
Until state leaders could find a way to address the situation, Ikenberrysaid, the university would implement several short-term measures. These include using $65 million set aside from reserves and budget reductions to be able to meet payroll; incorporating furloughs for faculty and staff – 10 days for administrators and four for faculty and staff who make more than $30,000 – generating about $17 million; freezing all hiring other than to honor prior offers; and assessing the scope of academic programs.
In addition, the administration appointed a work group to recommend reorganization and restructuring, primarily in information technology, purchasing and consolidation of administrative support services.
While the Illinois situation might be extreme, it is not unique.
NORTH CAROLINA
Closer to home, Gov. Beverly Perdue has begun re-examining state government to look for cost savings before she makes her 2010–11 budget proposal to the N.C. General Assembly this spring.
At Carolina, the budget-planning process for next fiscal year started with Bruce Carney, interim executive vice chancellor and provost, asking vice chancellors and deans to detail how their planning for budget cuts aligns with recommendations of the Bain and Co. report.
“If you are reducing layers of administration or consolidating administration across several units, we very much wish to discuss those plans,” Carney said in a Jan. 11 memo. “Simple across-the-board cuts should be avoided, and every effort made to continue current levels of course offerings.”
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA
California lawmakers plan to call on the federal government to help erase the state’s nearly $20 billion deficit.
Also, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger earlier this month revealed a proposal to shift money from prisons to higher education. If passed, the amendment would limit the correctional budget to no more than 7 percent of the state’s general fund and give the university system at least 10 percent, beginning with the 2011–12 fiscal year.
Schwarzenegger’s plan includes $371 million in additional money for UC, significantly less than the $913 million the university system had requested to repair the series of budget cuts it has sustained the past few years.
If state funding ultimately falls short, UC plans to reduce the number of California resident first-year students enrolled in the 2010-11 academic year by another 2,300 students, for a total 4,600-student reduction over two years.
Among other measures, UC’s proposed 2010–11 budget includes student fee increases of 15 percent for undergraduate and graduate professional students and a goal to end the mandatory furlough/salary reduction plan at the end of August.
UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
As the university begins trimming $100 million from recurring costs over the next three years to try to avoid layoffs, it has asked UM employees for their cost-cutting suggestions.
“Looking ahead to next year, state revenues are projected to fall over $1 billion short of the current year’s expenditures,” said Phil Hanlon, vice provost for academic and budgetary affairs. He said the university was planning for the possibility that higher education appropriations could be one place for the state to cut funding.
Administrators want to identify efficiencies in information technology along with better space utilization and reducing health-care and energy costs. UM annually spends $300 million on IT-related services, almost as much as the $317 million general fund appropriation it receives from the state.
The university has a $1.45 billion general fund budget, which supports the core academic enterprise. State appropriations making up that budget have shrunk from 78 percent in 1960 to 22 percent currently. Tuition and fees, which contributed 20 percent of general fund revenue in 1960, now are expected to make up 65 percent of the general fund.
UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA
State general fund appropriations to UVA decreased from 8.2 percent in 2008–09 to 6.9 percent in 2009–10, and university officials expect the budget reduction assessed to schools and departments in fall 2009 to continue in 2010–11.
UVA does not plan to reduce further the 2010–11 targets, but that is contingent upon what actions may be taken in the upcoming legislative session.
Last October, the governor proposed a $19.25 million (total 15 percent) budget reduction, which federal stimulus funding partially offset, lowering the reduction to 8 percent. The governor’s proposed 2010–12 budget temporarily defers the $19.25 million reduction until 2011–12 because of requirements in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON
With still-declining tax revenues, university officials anticipate additional cuts in state funding for the upcoming biennium – possibly as much as $20.9 million, or an additional 6.4 percent.
This would follow an unprecedented 26 percent budget cut this biennium, which took state funding back to its 1999 level. To cope, the university eliminated 850 jobs, primarily among administrators and staff, closed branch libraries and writing centers, froze pay and dramatically reduced faculty hiring.
A 14 percent increase in tuition partially offset the impact of the cuts, continuing a 20-year trend to rely increasingly on tuition to compensate for shrinking state funding. For the first time in school history, administrators said, total revenue from tuition exceeded revenue from state tax dollars.
UW is looking at its business processes, among other efforts, to find ways to gain operating efficiencies.
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发表于 2010-2-1 07:04:02
发表于 2010-2-1 07:14:43
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