Hall presents 2003-04 budget to ASUSU
The budget results are in and the Legislature is beginning to see things President Kermit L. Hall’s way.
The Legislature restored two percent of the budget it was planning to cut next year, making the actual budget reduction and funding shortfall from the 2003 budget base $14.3 million.
“In the midst of a lot of bad news, we’ve really had, I think, some significant success. We were able to convince the Legislature that they made a significant mistake and they corrected the mistake,” Hall said to the Associated Students of USU Executive Council on Thursday.
“I think that Utah State, of all the universities in Utah, had by far the most successful legislative session,” he said.
For the last few months, Hall and the administration have been picking apart the budget in order to make decisions in the best interest of the students and the faculty.
“Our ability to continue to talk about the quality of the university rests primarily on the support [students] have given,” said Provost Stan Albrecht.
With the passing of House Bill 75, which allots 500 scholarships to potential out-of-state students, $6 million that would have otherwise been lost will be generated toward the economy over a five-year span, Hall said.
“It’s kind of a serum to take care of the venom of [House Bill] 331,” he said.
With $42 million in bonds from the Legislature, construction will begin this year on the new Merrill Library.
“There’s $60 million worth of bonds out there. We got $40 million of that total bond appropriation,” Hall said.
As for building operation and maintenance, USU will receive $500,000. The university is planning the construction of five new buildings and is still short $600,000, Hall said.
In other results from the Legislature:
* The Extension program will receive $300,000.
* The Engineering Initiative will receive $250,000.
* The Southern Diagnostic Lab will receive $160,000.
* The USU Climate Center will receive $120,000.
By utilizing one-time funds and carrying forward previous base cuts, Hall said he hopes to solve the still-existing budget reductions for the 2002-03 academic year.
Albrecht said, “We’ve been taking these cuts as we have been going along.”
However, for this year, the administration does not plan to lay off any faculty, take money from one place and send it to another, declare a fiscal emergency, reduce salaries or benefits, encourage early retirement or reallocate tuition
dollars.
As for the 2003-04 academic year, in order to compensate for budget reductions, the administration plans to collapse unfilled positions, disproportionately distribute cuts throughout the university, and select investments based on the university’s priorities.
This year’s goal applies for next year, concerning what the university will not do to solve the budget reductions, except they may have to lay off employees.
“The chances of reduction in force [layoffs] are there. We may be able to deal with this issue but we are probably facing the prospect of terminating some people from their employment,” Hall said.
Currently, the faculty-to-student ratio at USU is 26 to one, but the administration is hiring 75 new faculty members with second-tier tuition dollars from 2001 to 2004. As for advising, six additional advisers will be hired by July 1.
Fortunately, research and grants have played a significant role in the budget.
–mmackay@cc.usu.edu