UNC faces two types of budget cuts

UNC-system administrators have been reviewing their institutions’ budgets for months in preparation for losing millions more in state funding.

But flexibility when making those cuts might not be an option.

Rep. Hugh Blackwell, R-Burke, the co-chairman of the N.C. House appropriations subcommittee on education, said the Republican leadership is considering two options for UNC-system schools.

One option — line-item budget cuts — would grant state legislators the license to reduce funding for specific academic programs or departments at universities.

The alternative would be one larger discretionary cut the University system could divide among its 17 institutions.

“No decision has been made,” Blackwell said. “My preference is that it would be some combination of the two.”

Blackwell said campus administrators would retain the ability to reallocate funding for academic programs they wanted to keep by reducing spending on others.

Universities have other revenue sources besides state appropriations, such as tuition and endowments, at their disposal, he added.

“One way or the other, the University will probably have a great deal of flexibility over how to adjust for any reductions that might occur,” he said.

But administrative positions might also be targeted by reductions in funding, an area UNC-system representatives say has been pared to the bone after repeated cuts.

The system has eliminated 23 percent in administrative expenses and 900 administrative positions in the past four years.

“We are certainly very concerned about this round of cuts across the system,” said Tim Burwell, vice provost for resource management at Appalachian State University. “So much of the earlier cuts have come from the administrative side that it’s hard to go back to that well.”

Rep. Rick Glazier, D-Cumberland, and member of the N.C. House subcommittee, said in an email that the subcommittee leadership might seek to reduce administrative positions further — using the line-item budget cut option — and reserve more flexible cuts for academic programs.

Subcommittee chairmen in the N.C. House and Senate are formulating UNC-system funding proposals, which will be presented for amendments before a vote.

UNC

“It’s their job to make the budget work in terms of balancing the revenues and expenditures,” said Bruce Carney, executive vice chancellor and provost at UNC-CH. “I would assert that I would know best how to allocate the cuts and make sure we preserve the core of the University.”

Joan Lorden, provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs at UNC-Charlotte, said she would prefer more flexible cuts in state funding to address faculty issues.

Lorden said UNC-C has been losing faculty to other institutions and has been forced to hire more part-time lecturers who renew contracts on a short-term basis.

A 15 percent cut in state funding would force administrators to devise new strategies for hiring faculty and filling gaps in course offerings, she said.

“I know the legislature is facing some really difficult choices,” she said. “But I hope they think about making cuts at the University that don’t do irrevocable damage to its institutions.”

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