Officials Draft Budget Cuts of Up to $16.4 Million

UNC-CH administrators submitted the proposal to the UNC-system Office of the President as part of a request from Gov. Mike Easley that all state agencies brace for budget cuts.

Both the governor and state legislative leaders last week began work on building the budget for the 2002-03 fiscal year, which starts July 1. Due to a declining economic outlook, the state could be facing a budget shortfall significantly more than $1 billion for next year, forcing state leaders to consider cuts in all corners of state government.

The other 15 UNC-system schools also submitted proposals, all with similar budget reduction scenarios. At the 4 percent level, the 16 UNC-system schools would lose a total of about $63 million from their $1.6 billion budget.

Jeff Davies, UNC-system vice president for finance, said UNC-system officials requested that each campus provide scenarios for cuts of up to 4 percent because the UNC-system chancellors said it was the most that could be cut from the budget without hindering classroom activity.

"We are responding to requests from the governor to present this information, and the governor asked us to make a proposal that doesn't impact instruction," he said.

Easley wrote in a March 21 letter to UNC-system chancellors that one of his goals was to "protect the classroom" from the effects of the budget cuts.

System officials will present a comprehensive report of possible budget cuts to the governor Wednesday.

Davies said the report will consist mainly of information pertinent to the system as a whole but added that the individual school reports will be included.

The proposal submitted by UNC-CH breaks down the total 4 percent budget cut into 1 percent intervals.

Areas that stand to be reduced include faculty and staff positions, summer instruction and funding for libraries.

Elmira Mangum, UNC-CH associate provost for finance and human resources, said that even though the requested 4 percent cuts are lower than what other state agencies are facing, UNC-CH will still be drastically affected.

"We're going to be devastated by any large budget reductions because any reductions ... are going to impact instruction," she said.

If a 4 percent cut is implemented, UNC-CH could eliminate about 100 filled staff positions and about 80 filled faculty positions.

A substantial percentage of those layoffs could come from the health affairs division.

But Mangum cautioned against assuming that layoffs will be an automatic result of budget cuts.

She said that while it is correct to say that faculty and staff positions might be in jeopardy if the campus is forced to absorb a budget cut as high as 4 percent, the cuts will come from different areas of the University.

"The important factor is that budget reductions we receive typically come by budget codes," she said. "There are positions in health affairs and academic affairs (for example) ... depending on the way we actually get the call depends on how many actually get cut.

"I think it's fair to say that if we have to get to a 4 percent cut, we have to lose faculty positions."

But Davies emphasized that no decisions for cuts to any state agencies, including the UNC system, have been made.

"I think that (Easley) is just requesting scenarios so he can make realistic evaluations," Davies said. "We're still analyzing the reports, but it's clear that the campuses tried hard not to impact instruction. (The cuts) will affect everything."

The State & National Editor can be reached at stntdesk@unc.edu.