Members of the state's Joint Appropriations Subcommittee on Education said Wednesday that budget cut proposals from the system's 16 schools, which would total approximately $125 million, were too broad and need to be re-evaluated.
The proposed budget cuts called for the elimination of more than 400 faculty positions systemwide, as well as large cuts to library and distance education budgets.
The faculty positions affected most would be nontenure faculty like lecturers and adjunct professors.
The proposals from each of the system schools were submitted Monday by UNC-system President Molly Broad and were based on an even, 7 percent cut from each of the system's campuses.
Sen. Walter Dalton, D-Cleveland, subcommittee co-chairman, said, "(The subcommittee was) just surprised they took an across-the-board approach."
Dalton said committee members expected UNC-system officials to propose more targeted cuts.
But system leaders defended their proposals, saying they did not have enough time to break the cuts down to specifics. UNC-Chapel Hill Chancellor James Moeser said the subcommittee sent a letter to the UNC system April 11, the Wednesday before Easter, requesting the budget cuts proposals by the next Monday. "Easter miracles are one thing, but that bordered on the level of impossibility."
Dalton said the subcommittee would be meeting with university leaders in the next eight weeks, discussing specific cuts needed to propose a budget. "We're trying to be as responsible as we can with this challenge facing us," he said.
Broad said she had a phone conversation with Dalton on Thursday and that any initial differences have been resolved. "If there was lack of understanding, I don't think there is now," she said.
