Dave Pershing, senior vice president for academic affairs, warned lawmakers that a 15 percent cut in state funding for state universities during the next year could hurt Utah’s reputation as an academic stronghold.
Pershing spoke to members of the higher education appropriation committee with other university representatives and William Sederburg, Utah’s Commissioner of Higher Education. Lawmakers met Monday in advance of the beginning of the Utah legislative session Jan. 26.
Lawmakers already cut 4 percent from the U’s budget for this fiscal year and might cut another 7.5 percent before July. An additional 7.5 percent might also be cut from the next fiscal year, adding up to a staggering 19 percent. The government’s fiscal calendar runs from July 1 to June 30.
“What we are worried about is what happens if the nation gets the sense the wheels are coming off the train in Utah,” Pershing said. “If we were to add 7.5 percent to the additional 4 percent we have already done, that is about $30 million that we have got to cut out of the University of Utah for the year we are in. That is a big number.”
Sederburg told the panel of lawmakers that the state’s public universities understand it is a difficult year for everyone and want to do their part to help Utah reach a balanced budget. However, he said university presidents decided early to keep students as their highest priority.
“If you are already enrolled in a degree program, we need to be committed to finishing out that degree for you,” he said. “We cannot go in and eliminate midstream whole academic programs without violating a trust with the students.”
Sederburg said that upholding accreditation, maintaining programs that will help Utah rebound economically and protecting tenured faculty are other high priorities.
However, he said university presidents need to be “constructive in helping state policy makers meet fiscal challenges.”
“We are very open in conversations,” he said. “We are not just here to whine and complain, although we are happy to do that.”
While no official decisions have been made in regard to cuts, Pershing told lawmakers that a number of ideas are being considered to help save Utah money.
He said laying off staff members, not filling empty vacancies, reducing services and travel, cutting hours of operations and postponing renovation and maintenance are among possible cutbacks. However, Pershing noted that the U and other Utah universities tend to be more efficient compared to other institutions.
“We are doing a lot with a little,” he said. “Cuts make that tougher. We don’t have the flexibility that some of my Provo friends have in things they can cut.”
Among students’ top concerns is whether or not tuition and fees will rise dramatically. Michael Hodgenson, a sophomore in chemistry, said he understands there will likely be a tuition increase but fears a large hike.
“It won’t matter to me if the U is not as good if I can’t even pay for it,” he said.
U administrators are still unsure how much tuition will increase, although Paul Brinkman, associate vice president for budget and planning, said tuition increases every year regardless of the economic situation, though the size of increase can differ greatly.
“I don’t know what is going to happen,” he said. “We will find out in a few weeks what next year is going to look like.”
The committee will meet Jan. 21.