Budget task force begins work on difficult choices

The Budget Planning Task Force, chaired by professor John McCarthy, received its charge from Chancellor Robert Holub this week. The chancellor wants recommendations on strategic choices that the campus must make as it weathers $11 million in state budget cuts this year and anticipated reductions next year.

At the panel’s first meeting on Nov. 18, budget director David Murphy provided a primer and outlined future financial options. The committee, he said, must consider where to cut the budget, how much to raise student fees and whether additional sources of revenue can be identified. In preparation for base budget cuts next year, the administration has asked each executive area to detail the impact of potential 3 percent and 6 percent reductions to their areas.

McCarthy, a Distinguished Professor of Linguistics, said the 20-member advisory group’s meetings are open to members of the campus community. The next meeting is set for Tuesday, Dec. 2. Details of the budget process can be found at www.umass.edu/chancellor/budget.html.

The 13 faculty members on the task force, appointed by the Faculty Senate leadership, are: William Richards Adrion, Computer Science; Carol Barr, Sport Management; Mari Castañeda, Communication; Kathleen Debevec, Marketing; Joseph Goldstein, Mechanical and Industrial Engineering; Mzamo Mangaliso, Management; Ernest May, Music and Dance; John McCarthy, Linguistics; W. Brian O’Connor, Biology; Max Page, Art; Robert Pollin, Economics; Ralph Whitehead, Journalism; and Robert Wilson, Hospitality and Tourism Management.

The four staff members are Donna Beauregard, Student Affairs; Christopher Coyle, Environmental Health and Safety; Diane Keedy, Isenberg School of Management; and Lawrence Snyder, Physical Plant.

The three student representatives are Malcolm Chu, president of the Student Government Association; Lindsay McClusky, student representative to the Board of Trustees; and Nahir Otano Gracia, Graduate Student Senate president.

Five members of the central administration will also attend meetings to provide the committee with additional information. They are John Dubach, chief information officer; Joyce Hatch, vice chancellor for Administration and Finance; Tom Milligan, executive vice chancellor for University Relations; David Murphy, budget director; and Sue Pearson, associate provost.

November 20, 2008.

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