Budget gap forces quick decisions

UNC-system campuses are struggling to meet a Wednesday deadline to submit suggestions for budget cuts to the N.C. General Assembly.

Legislators have not made a final decision on university spending, but the Senate Appropriations Committee on Education has called for the universities to assemble potential cuts totaling 4 percent of their budgets.

Campus officials, still coping with funding reductions during the past few years, are hopeful that the state will not go through with the drastic cut.

“If we were to get a 4 percent cut, it would have significant impact on the classroom and every aspect of university services,” said Steve Allred, executive associate provost for UNC-Chapel Hill. “You would see the impact.”

Administrators across the state say reductions during the last several years have accumulated to strengthen the blow of a large cut.

By the Numbers 7 Senators on education funding committee text 78 In millions, university enrollment growth cost 245 In millions, projected shortfalls

Allred said past cuts have bypassed basic services to students and fallen mainly on campus centers and institutes, such as the Morehead Planetarium and Science Center and the Sonja Haynes Stone Center for Black Culture and History.

Officials don’t yet know what will be cut, but hope no programs will be eliminated, Allred said.

Larry Nielsen, provost and executive vice chancellor for N.C. State University, said campuses are beyond cutting the fat.

“The fat got eliminated a long time ago,” he said. “We’re cutting into muscle and bone here.”

Campus officials have to make hard decisions about what cuts to suggest, and they were given two full working days to do it.

The legislature’s call for detailed reports of potential cuts makes the process more difficult, Allred said. In the past, universities have not had to report exactly what programs will be affected and how much.

“What’s most preferable is no cuts at all,” Allred said. “What’s next most preferable is maximum flexibility for universities.”

Legislators’ uncommon decision to review university budgets line-by-line gives them greater control over spending, said Wayne Walcott, senior associate provost for UNC-Charlotte.

“It could be that they have notions about where the university has more resources, and that they’re looking for those sorts of things,” Walcott said.

UNC-CH has a headstart in the rushed decision process, Allred said. In the fall, the administration asked schools and other departments to develop a plan for dealing with a 3 percent cut. “As a starting point, we’ll extrapolate those numbers upward,” he said.

Allred’s office will meet with Chancellor James Moeser today to help determine the recommendations.

Regardless of prior preparation, all schools will be rushing to make the deadline.

“Right now, this is just as much of a logistical issue as anything else,” Walcott said. “We’re still trying to organize ourselves.”

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