UL makes plan for $7.5M cut in budget

[NewsCopy]

  Faced with a $7.5 million budget cut from the state this year, UL President Joe Savoie laid out a plan Thursday that includes cuts, expense reductions and plans to increase revenue.

Among other things, the cuts include a 10 percent cut to every college and department's operating budget, reducing or eliminating merit pay to administrators and staff, increasing class size and eliminating or consolidating programs with historically low enrollment.

"It's going to be tight. It's going to make things a little more difficult," Savoie said. "We're not going to be able to move as quickly and as broadly as we had hoped, but we're going to stay focused and make progress."

The recommendations are the result of some seven months of planning that included creating nine task forces made up of faculty, staff, students and committee members.

Plans are still being finalized, and Savoie said he is unsure what programs will be consolidated or eliminated. Consolidating programs would free up the smaller program's department head to spend more time teaching, Savoie said.

He was also unsure which classes will accommodate more students, but said freshmen classes where more individualized instruction is needed will likely be untouched. No university employees will be laid off or asked to take unpaid vacation.

"Our goals were to protect our core academic mission, minimize the impact on our students, and protect our faculty and staff, who are our most important asset in providing quality academic services," he said.
Along with a 5 percent tuition hike that goes into effect this fall, Savoie said the university will implement other ways to increase revenue and expand services to students.

Those plans include beefing up student retention efforts by adding more tutors and counselors.

Savoie pointed to a scenario in which 3,000 freshmen are admitted, but only 2,000 make it to their second year. He hopes to create a scenario where a hypothetical 2,500 freshmen are admitted, but 2,300 make it to their second year. The university might take another look at who they admit on exclusion and tighten up acceptance requirements.

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Tina Marie Macias • tmacias@theadvertiser.com • August 7, 2009

[DestinCajun]

So, 10% of the Cajuns' athletic budget is roughly a $1,000,000?

[geo_cajun]

Why can't UL use some of the money from our "$100 million" academic foundation to make up the short fall this year. If not for this kind of a thing, what is it used for anyway?

[BeauCajun]

_ Why can't UL use some of the money from our "$100 million" academic foundation to make up the short fall this year. If not for this kind of a thing, what is it used for anyway? _

It was at $135 mil at this time last year. It's an endowment. The earnings are used for scholarships, professorships, etc. It's intent was not for the day to day operations of the university. There are plenty of additional ways that the university can cut deeper if needed. Next time they need suggestions on cutbacks they can check with my fellow members of the SSOOT. These last 6 months have been tough.

[Boomer]

I have heard that our total loss was not as bad as other schools endowments---guess we didn't have as much in the market!!!!-