Schools respond to budget cut

The N.C. General Assembly's handing down of a 0.75 percent budget cut to all state agencies last week means the remainder of the UNC system's fiscal year will have to be more frugal.

The state will receive a return of $13.3 million from the 16 system universities. Individual schools will pay amounts ranging from less than $90,000 to $2.85 million.

The cut, a nonrecurring reversion, will channel more money toward relief for the state's hurricane victims.

UNC-Chapel Hill officials said Monday that the University has not decided from where it will draw the $2.85 million it owes the state but that other system schools are digging in their pockets and making plans to provide the money.

"We're going to have to realign some costs," said Akua Matherson, assistant vice chancellor for budget and planning at N.C. Agricultural & Technical State University.

Matherson said N.C. A&T plans to cover the reversion expenses with money originally designated for new equipment and technology, such as additional wireless networking.

"(The reversion) decreases the cash you have on hand to spend," she said. Taking the money from technological expenses will be the most "painless" cut possible, she said.

Matherson said the school's loss of more than $500,000 will not affect financial aid or next year's tuition costs because the university does not want students to bear responsibility for the reversion.

But at Appalachian State University, which will be returning more than $250,000 to the state, administrators are not having to make cuts from programs or services at all.

"We're always prepared, somewhat, for budget cuts," said Jane Helm, ASU vice chancellor for business affairs. She said the university has money on reserve for such circumstances.

Because the reversion has been billed as a one-time occurrence, Helm said she does not expect it to have any impact on spending and budget planning for next year.

"We never like to have money taken away, but we are a state agency," she said.

She added that the university benefits when the state is in the black, but it must also be understanding in times of a budget shortfall.

And while the cuts are inconvenient, the reversion is still minimal, said Hannah Gage, a member of the UNC-system Board of Governors' Budget and Finance Committee.

She said she has yet to see a breakdown of the reversion's specifics, but the state's overall request is far lower than she expected.

As the fiscal year progresses, administrators at all 16 universities will try to progressively revamp their budgets to pay back the state without significantly disrupting normal university activity.

Matherson summed up N.C. A&T's - and perhaps many other system schools' - attitude toward the reversion: "While we don't like it, we certainly understand and will comply."

Contact the State & National Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.