Final budget for 2010 is in: USU to receive 18 precent cut
All institutions of higher education in the state of Utah are looking at an 18 percent budget cut for fiscal year 2010, said Michael Kennedy, special assistant to the president of USU for state and federal relations.
Final numbers for next year’s budget were released last week at the end of the legislative session, leaving numerous programs across the state with deep cuts, Kennedy said. However, the Legislature was able to backfill 9 percent of Utah State’s budget, leaving Aggies with less of a blow, he said.
“The pain is still there, but it’s not as painful as we thought it would be,” Kennedy said.
To backfill the budget cuts, the Legislature used federal stimulus money, Kennedy said, and did not touch the approximate $500 million rainy day fund for which many lobbyists for higher education were asking.
While Utah State is still taking a hit, Jackson Olsen, ASUSU vice president and coordinator of many of the efforts to save higher education at USU, said this was not a losing situation.
“I consider our efforts successful to a certain degree because we did make an impact on the decisions made by state legislators,” Olsen said. “While they didn’t use the rainy day funds as we would have liked them to, they were probably more cautious in cutting the higher education budget than they would have been if we did nothing.”
The mandatory furlough, which took place during Spring Break, in addition to small cuts around the university have already made up for a portion of these cuts, Kennedy said. A committee of central administrators is also being enacted to determine what programs and positions around campus will be cut, he said.
The dean of each college has also been asked to help by generating an outline detailing what can be done in their departments to save money, Kennedy said.
It is unclear at this time what areas will be trimmed, merged or done away with all together, he said.
“The silver lining of all this is, we do not anticipate any further cuts for 2009,” Kennedy said.
While Utah State is only looking at a 9 percent cut for fiscal year 2010, Kennedy said things could get worse if the economy continues its downward spiral.
“For fiscal year 2011, we need to assume we’ll have to take the 19 percent budget cut (which was proposed by the Legislature earlier this year) and plan accordingly,” Kennedy said.
However, Olsen said this is not the end of the fight. While he and many ASUSU members are leaving, he is confidant that next year’s group will work just as diligently to fight for higher education. Olsen also stressed that students need to remain involved in the campaign to save higher education, so the momentum doesn’t die.
“The worst thing students can do now is think, ‘OK, I guess the battle is over’. If the economy continues to slip, the battle has only begun. Students need to remain active,” Olsen said.
Olsen said the reason the campaign was such a success this year on a state level was because of the collaboration between central administrators and the student population. Instead of working separately, they worked as a team, and in turn, he said, were able to reason with legislators to protect higher education.
–greg.boyles@aggiemail.usu.edu