Face The State Staff Report
Face The State has obtained a comprehensive list of cuts made by the University of Colorado to cover a $29 million budget shortfall in fiscal years 2009 and 2010.
The data comes in response to a request made May 21st to the CU system for details behind preliminary budget data presented to regents May 18-19. While regents voted to raise tuition from 1.2 to 5 percent at their May meeting, they were only provided with a basic summary of budget cuts at the time. Administrators at each campus determined specific cost reductions after being provided target budget figures by the president's office, though the information had not been compiled into a single document until May 29.
At-large Regent Steve Ludwig, D-Lone Tree, said that while the Board of Regents has the power to control individual campus cuts, it is not standard practice to do so. “It would require something to be so outside the norm for the board to get involved,” he said. “Otherwise it really gets into micromanaging. We try to empower people to do their jobs.”
The Board of Regents has, however, considered program-specific budget issues as recently as its last meeting. Regent Joe Neguse, D-Boulder, tried to save the Silver & Gold Record, the faculty newspaper. The Board of Regents voted 5-4 against a resolution that would have given the publication six weeks to explore alternative funding options. Closing the weekly newspaper, which was funded through the president’s office, will save the university almost $600,000 a year.
Campus cuts include trimming $13 million at CU-Boulder, including $6.6 million in salary and benefits savings. Among academic departments the College of Arts and Sciences took the brunt of the pain, trimming roughly 26 faculty and staff lines.
CU-Colorado Springs slashed $1.89 million from its spending. UC-Denver, including the medical school, found $11.38 million in savings. An accounting of cuts by campus is summarized in a document (PDF) provided by the CU system.
"I appreciate the efforts by university leadership to make painful and significant cuts,” said Regent Michael Carrigan, D-Denver, in an e-mail. “While I support finding efficiencies wherever we can, we are past trimming fat and are now cutting muscle and bone that help us fulfill our mission of supporting Colorado's economy. Unfortunately, due to Colorado's limited state support for higher education, the only other choice was significant tuition increases.”
Carrigan added the “deep cuts” made by campuses was “one of the reasons the tuition increase was not higher.”
Of the over $29 million of cuts, CU realized salary and benefits savings, represented in units of “full time equivalents,” of $17 million system wide. The university also cut $15.2 million of operating expenses. The Boulder campus saw a decrease of 75.1 FTE for just over $6.6 million. UC-Denver cut 65.7 FTE for a savings of $4.8 million. The Colorado Springs campus cut 10.4 FTE to save $700,000. Most cuts to FTE reflect vacant positions that will not be filled, but do include some currently-filled faculty and staff positions that will be terminated or reduced in hours.
President Bruce Benson's office also announced last month a plan to cut 54 positions in the system office, 25 of which are already vacant and will not be filled. The reduction in staff is coupled with a previously announced 5 percent salary reduction for a handful of top administrators.
According to at-large Regent Steve Bosley, R-Louisville, CU is likely to see even more cuts in the course of the coming fiscal year, depending in large part on revenue to the state's general fund. Bosley also hinted at a possible restructuring of the CU system in coming years.