issue dated 7/27/07
Florida Universities Brace for Budget Cuts
By LYNDSEY LEWIS
In muggy Gainesville, Fla., where college sports reign supreme, some leaders at the University of Florida are mulling the use of football tickets as a way to entice students to help cut costs.
To motivate students to graduate faster, the university may offer them a better chance of receiving tickets if they take on heavier course loads. The proposed policy is one of several money-saving measures under consideration at the institution, which faces a projected deficit of at least $20-million for the fiscal year that began July 1.
The University of Florida is not the only public college in the state trying to trim costs. After Gov. Charlie Crist blocked a 5-percent increase in statewide tuition in May, Florida's 11 public universities began bracing for a fallout. But the state's slumping housing market helped slow the economy, causing a shortfall in tax revenue that will force the colleges and other agencies to cut their budgets by at least 4 percent.
Now higher-education officials are drawing up plans to further shave costs with hiring suspensions, enrollment freezes, and other money-saving measures.
All told, the state's universities stand to lose at least $100-million with a 4-percent budget reduction, but the universities have been warned to prepare for a cut of up to 10 percent.
While midyear budget cuts are not as common as they were earlier this decade, public colleges in at least one other state, Maryland, have also been urged to tighten their belts.
The Board of Governors, which oversees Florida's public universities, will enforce a statewide enrollment freeze to cope with the deficit. Still, as colleges prepare for a tight year, administrators say their main priority is ensuring that students do not feel the brunt of budget-cutting efforts.
"Hopefully, we can shield them from most of the cuts," said J. Bernard Machen, president of the University of Florida.
That institution's 50,000 or so students are bound to notice some changes, though. After Mr. Crist reported the revenue shortfall, the University of Florida announced a campuswide hiring freeze.
Although there are no estimates on how many positions could be affected, Mr. Machen emphasized that the freeze is "not just a game."
Richard A. Yost, a chemistry professor at the University of Florida and chairman of the university's Faculty Senate, said faculty members would inevitably have to take on heavier teaching loads. "Given the size of the shortfall, I don't think the university has a lot of choices," he said.
The University of Central Florida, in Orlando, has instituted a similar hiring freeze, although certain positions can still be filled. For example, Central Florida is moving forward with plans to beef up its campus police force, and the university's planned medical school will also probably be an exception to the freeze.
But Central Florida, which is the state's fastest-growing institution, may still struggle to serve a booming population.
"That's going to be the biggest impact — the inability to hire faculty to meet our current enrollment," said Daniel C. Holsenbeck, a university spokesman.
Sudden Downturn
Even as administrators pledge to protect the quality of their institutions, students are growing wary of coming changes.
At Florida State University, which has instituted an enrollment freeze for the next admissions cycle, students seem "frustrated and disappointed at the same time," said Joseph O'Shea, the university's student-body president.
"It all happened so quick," he said.
The freeze will prevent Florida State from expanding its student body for the 2008-9 academic year, and the university is looking for other ways to trim about $15-million from its budget.
"You've got to go a long dang way to find that," said T.K. Wetherell, Florida State's president.
To save money, the university will cut back on some services. For example, the hours at campus libraries and computer labs may be reduced, Mr. Wetherell said. There will probably be fewer courses offered, and students will pay extra for transcript copies.
"We'll jack thermostats up in the summer and down in the winter," Mr. Wetherell added.
While Florida State is committed to shielding its student body as much as possible, Mr. Wetherell said, students are bound to feel some of the impact.
In Tampa, at the University of South Florida, administrators will feel it, too. This fall, the university's provost, Renu Khator, is scheduled to teach a beginner's-level Hindi class in addition to her administrative chores.
Other high-ranking officials at the University of South Florida, such as deans, may also be taking on teaching work, and the institution has announced its own hiring freeze.
Florida's 28 community colleges will also take a hit. Although the steps ordered by the Board of Governors do not affect those institutions, they are still set to lose money during the next year. The boards of trustees for each college have just begun to make plans for dealing with the budget cuts.
By the 2008-9 academic year, however, a few Florida universities will receive a boost. Mr. Crist recently signed a bill allowing the state's top three research institutions — the University of Florida, Florida State University, and the University of South Florida — to increase tuition by as much as 40 percent over several years.
Still, that measure will not take effect for another year, and it does not affect Florida's other eight public universities. The state's Board of Governors recently joined a lawsuit filed by a former U.S. senator, Bob Graham, to wrest control of tuition from the Legislature.
Mr. Graham, a Democrat who is also a former governor, hopes to secure that power for the Board of Governors so that it can raise tuition on its own. Although the Legislature approved a tuition increase this year, lawmakers have typically tried to keep rates low.
For now, though, all 11 of the state's public universities have to work with what they have.
"We've been doing a lot of planning to take these cuts, and we're trying to do it in a way so the students won't feel the pain," said Ms. Khator, of South Florida. "But it's very difficult."
Section: Government & Politics
No comments:
Post a Comment