Faculty/Staff Forum: Operating Budget Planning FY02-03

December 20, 2001
Campus Center Auditorium

Welcome and thank you for responding to our invitation sent just Monday to attend today’s forum on the campus budget situation. The campus’ executive team is here to try and respond to questions you may have.

This is the third such meeting to occur in a week. In addition to having talked with the Faculty Senate, we also met as a team with students on Tuesday night. We believe it is important not just to provide or share information but also receive suggestions and try and respond to questions. Together, we must we all strive to be open and forthcoming through this challenging situation.

At the Senate I said I thought we needed to trust in each other’s integrity to ensure as best we can that the decisions I shall ultimately make are as informed as they can possibly be under circumstances that will require us to deliberate at a pace quicker than one we may prefer or to which we may be accustomed. We do not have the luxury of time, however. Nor do we have the luxury of acting in seriatim. We will need to plan and take actions for the immediate, for the mid-term and for the longer term simultaneously.

On Tuesday night when we met with students, they asked us to lead a lobbying campaign—you may have read the Gazette article reporting on that meeting. Indeed lobbying for the State’s return to investments in this University is one of the strategies some of our constituents will engage on our behalf. Developing clear, consistent messages that make explicit the relationship between the State’s investment in us now and the longer-term dividend of a viable and vital economy for the Commonwealth will be critical to any lobbying campaign.

Meanwhile, we shall, for the immediate time, endeavor to manage prudently, maintain public confidence, and preserve access to the highest of quality educational experiences for our students. The task before us…rather, upon us, is daunting. But we cannot allow ourselves to be overwhelmed or demoralized by its magnitude and its impact. To do so would paralyze us…and we have hard, serious work to accomplish.

On the other hand, we must not allow ourselves to imagine that our integrity and passions alone will accomplish all that must be done. Making the decisions to change while remaining mission-focused will necessarily be a joint effort—of the State, the System, all the campus constituents, our alumni and friends, and our business and industry partners in the region and beyond.

How did we come to be where we are today? All the talk of less than a year ago of a large state surplus was a seductive distraction to the mounting $1.35 billion state budget gap this year. At the State level only half this amount has been addressed this year through budget cuts. Unfortunately, even the best predictors of the state’s economic health suggest that FY03 will be at least as challenging as this current year. See what I mean about the difficulty—yet absolute necessity of not allowing ourselves to be so beleaguered as to become paralyzed? No question: the facts are frightening and disheartening. We cannot let them also be debilitating.

We have tried to provide for you a basic chart of dollar facts based on the assumption of level state funding for next year. The two scenarios are described at the top of the page. Perhaps if it would be helpful, we could quickly go through the chart and respond to questions.