Tough budget choices emphasized at forum

By Kelly Mayo
Assistant News Editor

Decisions concerning the budget will not be easy but are for the good of the university, Interim Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs Dr. William Gash said at an open forum in the UC Annex March 18. 

Open forum
Dr. Gash told an audience of about 75 that the budget advisory committee listened to "input from all the…departments and divisions at the university" during the six to seven-month planning process. 

Dr. Gash went over the guidelines the committee used in the decision process in a PowerPoint presentation. The guidelines included:
• Eliminating and/or consolidating programs or organizational structure
• Cross-training UNCP personnel to match peaks and valleys in work loads
• Reducing or consolidating events so that money not received from the state can be used for more essential purposes. 

Budget cuts
Although budget cuts are necessary, Dr. Gash said the last possibility to be considered was cuts to operational and travel funds. 

"We will all eventually need to travel," Dr. Gash said. 

Dr. Gash also said that maintaining student support and contact with important constituents in the community is imperative to UNCP. 

Vice Chancellor for Business Affairs R. Neil Hawk showed the audience what UNCP's financial situation looked like for next fiscal year in the Power- Point. 

Budget breakdown
He said that under the current plan, the university would cut $7.14 million from its budget overall. Of that amount, Hawk said, $5.94 million would be permanently reduced and $1.2 million would be temporarily reversed, or set aside unable to be spent. 

New revenue
Hawk also outlined the university's plans to raise money. 

They included $1.8 million in new revenue from tuition and other fees and $170,000 in additional auxiliary overhead fees. This added money would reduce the amount cut from the budget to $6.27 million. 

According to the PowerPoint, the budget cuts would cross a variety of areas.
• The Division of Business Affairs, for example, would take an $850,000 cut in its budget.
• The Division of Student Affairs would see its funding cut by $230,000.
• The Division of Academic Affairs would be hit the hardest, with a revenue cut of $4.26 million, or nearly 60 percent. 

Hawk also talked about how the cutting of positions would be organized. 

He said 40 positions were cut last fiscal year. More than 52 mostly unfilled positions would be cut under the current plan. 

Faculty's ideas
The audience consisted mostly of professors, administrators and staff, including Chancellor Kyle Carter and staff members from The Mary Livermore Library and the Career Center. 

After Hawk finished sharing the PowerPoint, he invited attendees to come up to one of the two microphones in the center aisle and share their opinions about the proposed budget. 

Art Department Chair Dr. Richard Gay spoke first. He said that his department was asked to cut its budget and the classes it offers by half. 

He claimed that the repercussions of this request would affect drawing and painting, two of the major's essential skills. As a result, he said, the quality of art education would decrease. 

Reduce months
Dean of Library Services Dr. Elinor Foster asked Dr. Gash how the proposed plan allowing an employee to voluntarily reduce contract length from 12 months to nine or 10 months would be administered. 

Dr. Gash answered that "nothing has been formulated" where the contract plan was concerned. He said employees who volunteered to have their contracts shortened would certainly be considered. 

Public Communications Specialist Scott Bigelow asked Dr. Gash if the budget decisions included plans for energy conservation. He also proposed raising football ticket prices for additional revenue. 

State funds
Dr. Gash responded that the main focus of the decisions was the use of state funds in UNCP's budget, and that athletic programs are not state funded. 

School of Graduate Studies Dean Dr. Sara Simmons stressed the importance of international recruiting. She said there was particular potential for accepting new international students into UNCP graduate programs.The Power- Point featured in the forum can be found on the UNCP website. 

'It's going to be tough'
Hawk closed the forum with the assurance that it would not be the budget committee's last meeting. 

Dr. Gash said the comments heard at the forum would be considered in the new budget proposal released on March 25. 

Dr. Gash said the final revisions to the budget would be done by the end of March. 

Student Body President Arjay Quizon spoke in an interview after the forum. 

"I think we've been doing a very good job withstanding the cuts we've already had, but our hands are tied. We can use fees for academics and state money for non-academics. Our hands are tied with raising tuition," he said. 

Quizon said the worst case scenario may include closing a program on campus and raising class sizes. He used an example of a class of 16 students increasing to 21 students. 

"We have to be very cautious about what we're doing," he said. 

However, Quizon expressed hope that things will turn out well for UNCP. 

"We have good leadership. I'm sure Dr. Carter knows what he's doing. This shouldn't affect the quality of education too much, but it's going to be tough."