USU still reeling from $9.5m loss
Last spring the Capitol exploded, casting a shadow from Logan to St. George and hitting the homes of Utah’s higher education institutions.
The economic fallout hit Utah State University’s budget, knocking off a total of $9.5 million.
President Kermit L. Hall said jokingly in his recent State of the University Address, “That means that I have managed to lose about a half million dollars a month and that without any help from Arthur Anderson.”
The cuts came as a result of a statewide budget deficit.
Last year the school was forced to eliminate $1.2 million in one-time funds from the budget. This led to a hiring freeze, issued this summer by Hall.
The state also cut $900,000 from a facility maintenance fund for the university. This means there may be inadequate funding to pay current utility costs, and there may be a maintenance backlog when things need to be repaired.
This year’s budget cuts are more than $7.3 million, according to the USU Budget Office.
Every college and department at USU was asked by Hall in his address to evaluate how it would be able to eliminate spending for this fiscal year. The results of this task have been published on USU’s Web site, www.usu.edu.
Everything from telephones to teachers has been cut.
Joe Vande Merwe, associate director of the Budget Office, said students can research the university’s budget if they want.
“The most credible way for students to access budget information is through President Hall’s Web page, [www.usu.edu/about/budget2002.asp],” he said.
The Budget Office’s Web site outlines how the school’s budget comes about. Through the summer, USU’s administration revised the coming year’s budget. In November, budget requests will be presented to Gov. Michael Leavitt by all Utah higher-education institutions. Then, early next year, the Legislature will hold hearings about the new budget before allocating it in March.
Students have differing opinions about the changes seen on campus this semester versus what they have seen in past years.
Ester Humphrey, a junior majoring in accounting, said she had some frustrations the first day of class.
“They kicked me out of one of my classes on the first day because I’m not a music major,” she said. “They said they didn’t have enough money. In another class I had a $10 fee for scantrons.”
Omar Khan, a sophomore majoring in computer science, said, “The food is more expensive on campus, like in The Hub.”
Another sophomore, Sharice Miller, majoring in business information systems, noticed another difference on campus this semester.
“The only change I really noticed was the new bus route, because I use the buses a lot,” she said.
The following information was obtained from a Budget Office report:
•Both the College of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences and the College of Education had their budgets cut by more than $500,000.
•Almost 85 percent of the College of Education cuts is accounted for by the elimination of faculty travel to national meetings. This lowers the visibility of USU and hinders the development of the college.
•The largest percentage being cut from HASS affects teacher development and morale because of reduced professional development. Even the teachers of future teachers are striving to constantly learn more.
•The colleges of Engineering, Science, and Business have reduced their budgets by almost a million dollars altogether. The Engineering cuts mean less money will go toward student labs and equipment.
•Budget reductions for Science were evenly distributed among the departments, reducing faculty training. The number of guest speakers has also been reduced. That eliminates potential learning and employment opportunities for students.
•Libraries permanently cut its budget by nearly $250,000, but Hall said in his address there would be a one-time allocation of almost $600,000 for library improvements. The library should have more books than fire hazards, he said.
•All areas of the university are being forced to cut back on simple things, as well. Paper waste is being discouraged. Unnecessary phone use is being avoided. Some phones have been removed from buildings and offices where they were not absolutely necessary.
•Computer upgrades are being postponed until the funding becomes available.
Staff positions have been left empty in many areas of the school. The College of Education has 11 positions still unfilled. HASS eliminated one of its three associate deans, the Budget Office reported. This leaves the remaining two with an increased workload. Three staff positions in Science were left vacant, as well.
Tuition increases have helped fill the void left by the budget cuts, but USU resident tuition is still nearly $1,500 less ($5,000 less for non-residents) than many of its peer institutions. According to a report from the President’s Office, revenues from the tuition increases are supposed to surpass $1 million this year alone. That money will go toward library improvements and student advising and counseling services.
Next year those revenues are being budgeted to help with the hiring of 16 new faculty, expand and improve high demand programs in business and engineering, and implement a new student information system.
There are goals in place to bring new faculty in to USU, even with the current hiring freeze. From now until 2006, the university is scheduled to hire 70 new faculty, according to the Web site. According to a report from the President’s Office, this will help bring USU closer to the peer institutions’ average student-to-faculty ratio of 17-1.
-jonryan@cc.usu.edu
Amount cut from each college or division • Agriculture – $137,787 • Business – $216,644 • Education – $561,436 • Engineering – $282,009 • Family Life – $59,869 • HASS – $507,291 • Natural Resources – $173,099 • Science – $478,079 • Graduate School – $55,425 • Continuing Education – $115,020 • University Advancement – $116,095 • Library & Instructional Supplies – $224,679 • Information Technology – $97,694 • Student Services – $163,725 • President – $107,249 • Provost – $224,772 • Administrative Services – $355,645 • Research – $173,694 • Facilities – $900,485 • Auxiliary-Maintenance – $26,649 • Athletics – $78,055 • CHA – $511,563 • Staff Benefits – $200,236
Line Item budget reductions • Uintah Basin – $153,400 • Southeastern Utah – $39,800 • Brigham City – $16,600 • Tooele/Wasatch – $48,000 • Agriculture Experiment Station – $645,200 • Water Research Lab – $85,400 • Coop Extension – $563,700 • Educ. Disadvantaged – $13,900