Since
our Town Hall meeting in January, we have presented our budget request
(budget compact) to the University of Minnesota system, and there has
been much planning and collaboration in the development of our budget
for fiscal year 2016. We appreciate your ideas and participation, which
had a direct impact on the process.
The
plan that is described below allows us to meet our FY16 budget
resolution goals without cutting any academic programs and does not
include any across the board cuts. Instead, we’re being very strategic
and ensuring that our core academic mission drives the decisions. In
fact, cuts to the colleges and schools are much less than we
anticipated. You may remember that the deans submitted a 3% reduction
plan. Instead of 3%, the collegiate units will only see a 0.9% reduction
at this time. The deans and department heads are now developing a
specific reduction plan.
Although
we don't intend to eliminate any academic programs, the tough fiscal
situation will impact our campus. The reverberations will be felt
through a reduction in term faculty, support of our lab services, some
student services, and some part-time staff positions. Every single
college and school at UMD is taking a cut.
This
plan also focuses on reducing open staff and faculty positions. While
there are still uncertainties and this may change, please know that I’m
hopeful that we can utilize recently opened positions to make
reductions. I’ll know more when we receive our final budget allocation
from the system leadership the end of May.
In the meantime, here’s where we plan to reduce expenses in the major areas of our campus:
Chancellor’s Unit (which includes Athletics)
· An open position was eliminated and other positions were realigned.
Total reduction in the Chancellor’s Unit: $233,334, 3%
Finance and Operations
· Human
Resources and Equal Opportunity implemented a shared services model in
FY14, reduced services, and switched oversight to other funds.
· Some open positions in Facilities Management will not be filled and management positions may be realigned.
· During FY15, Business Services adopted a shared services model, which allowed for the elimination of an open position.
Total reduction in Finance and Operations: $748,521, 3.3%
Student Life
· The operational budgets in two Student Life units are being reduced.
· Enrollment marketing initiatives will be paid, in part, with auxiliary funds.
· Other O&M expenses will be absorbed by fee-funded units.
· Shifting
funding of one Student Life unit to collegiate unit fees, which better
aligns with the Twin Cities campus funding model.
Total reduction in Student Life: $586,310, 23%
Academic Affairs
Reductions in the Academic Affairs units (non-collegiate):
· Reduction of financial support for honors courses, students in transition activities, registrar and graduate education.
· Reduction in support of one-stop and recruitment.
· Reduction in library e-resources.
· Reduction in support for one-time initiatives/requests.
· Reduction
in staffing for ITSS, assessment, instructional development (will
develop new model with faculty input), writing center, tutoring center,
NRRI.
· Reduced travel and professional development.
· Reduced student scholarships for study abroad.
Reductions in collegiate units:
· Reductions in instructional funds, staffing, and instructional lab resources.
Total reduction in Academic Affairs:
Non-collegiate units - $624,300, 2%
Collegiate units - $526,000, 0.9%
While
nothing will be definitive until we receive our budget allocation from
the system leadership, I want to make sure that you’re updated on the
process as we continue solving our financial challenges.
I sincerely appreciate your participation and your help in positioning UMD for the new realities in higher education.
Sincerely,
Lendley C. Black
Chancellor
