Update on University Budget Cuts
From Robert N. Shelton and Meredith Hay
February 2, 2009
We write to update you on the University's plans, now that Governor Brewer has signed the legislation implementing a $141.5 million mid-year cut to Arizona's university system.
The cut to The University of Arizona for the remainder of the fiscal year will be approximately $57 million, and comes on top of a $20 million cut that was taken at the beginning of the year. There will be additional cuts coming in July, with the start of the next fiscal year, so our planning requires us to look at this in a two-year timeframe.
Let us first note that when we began this fiscal year in July 2008, we were already anticipating a mid-year cut (though certainly not of this magnitude). In the fall, we implemented what we believe were prudent, measured, and fiscally necessary steps to reduce costs at the University. These efforts included a funds sweep and a very strict hiring freeze, which we continue to enforce. Combined with a 5% reduction in operating budgets across the University, the steps that were initiated 6 months ago have positioned us to approach the current significant cut in a coherent fashion. These actions will result in fewer class offerings, larger class sizes in the future and increased time to degree for our students.
As we work through this monumental loss of state funding, we are attempting to do so in a way that is consistent with our long term strategic objectives and allows us to ultimately protect the core academic components of the University. We are determined that The University of Arizona will have world-class faculty, stellar programs and outstanding support services for students. But clearly the cuts that we are experiencing will force painful changes that we would prefer not happen.
The cuts this year translate to the loss of approximately 600 positions across The UA. The effort to reduce positions began in the fall and continues to operate through attrition, unfilled vacancies and layoffs. While many of these positions have already been eliminated, there will need to be additional reductions in the coming months.
We will also be forced to eliminate or greatly reduce many of our outreach and community-based activities. This will result in:
a. The suspension of three-quarters of University funding for UApresents.
b. The current Flandrau Science Center facility, Planetarium and UA Mineral Museum will be closed to school groups and the public later this spring.
c. The Arizona State Museum will be open to the public fewer days per week, and many outreach and educational activities, including public events, will be cancelled later this spring.
d. The UA Museum of Art will be open fewer days per week, and will eliminate its engagement in university-level education as well as educational outreach.
e. A significant portion of the UA's outreach and extension operations across the state will be suspended.
The new partnership creating the Colleges of Letters and Science allows us to reduce the number of academic colleges from 16 to 13, and we have previously announced the closing of University College, the functions of which are being absorbed in the new Colleges of Letters and Science.
The Transformation Plan includes suggestions for consolidation or mergers of potentially more than 50 academic and administrative units, and we expect the implementation of a number of these to result in administrative savings.
By imposing an additional 5 percent cut that all deans and vice presidents have been directed to implement, we will balance the books at the close of the fiscal year. But as we said at the beginning, this budget crisis must be addressed as a two-year challenge, and there is simply no way to bring about the needed reductions without a furlough in the 2009/10 year. As a result, and based on our current projections, all faculty and staff on state and locally allocated funds will be required to take 5 furlough days (days off without pay) between July 1, 2009 and June 30, 2010. Details of the furlough will be forthcoming.
We deeply appreciate the commitment, determination and resilience demonstrated by faculty and staff on a daily basis. This is a difficult time, but the faculty and staff of The University of Arizona have shown that by being creative and innovative; by working harder and smarter; we can continue to set a standard for universities around the world to emulate.
For your good work and resolve in this challenging time, we offer our most sincere thanks.