Dear Members of the University Community:
With the 2010 session of the State Legislature now concluded, we have a clearer picture of what our budget for 2011 will be. The results are about what we expected—we ended up doing better in some areas and worse in others, and there were no surprises in the concluding hours of the session. While there were many disappointments in the session, I was extremely pleased that need-based financial aid was kept intact. Our student and faculty leaders joined us in making a strong case for the critical nature of these funds, and our arguments carried the day. It is also fair to say that without the revenue package the Legislature ultimately agreed on, things could conceivably have ended up much worse than they did, particularly for student financial aid. A summary of the budget legislation may be found on the University’s Office of Planning and Budgeting web site.
In 2011, we will be dealing with a continuation of the budget cuts we have endured now for three years running. In 2009, the University’s state general fund budget was reduced by $16.8 million. This year, our budget was reduced by an unprecedented $94.7 million. And next year, we will have another reduction of $20.6 million. Thus, over this three-year period, we will have lost $132 million in state general fund support—a 33% reduction in state support.
We have been able to withstand the worst effects of the budget reductions in part because the University has been authorized to increase tuition. We have had to look to our students to pay more for their education because state support has shrunk so much. We do not relish having to raise tuition, but without that additional revenue, we simply would not be able to offer students the educational experience they deserve.
As we did this year, in implementing the additional reductions, we will try to minimize the impacts on academic programs and students. Provost Wise is meeting with deans, vice provosts, vice presidents, and faculty and student leadership as she develops the new budget proposal for 2011. Earlier this year, schools and colleges were asked to model cuts of 3.5 and 5%, and these have been posted to the Office of Planning and Budgeting web site. Many of the effects described there will be moderated by the additional tuition revenue we anticipate next year. Continue reading “Outcomes of the 2010 State Legislative Session”
