LINCOLN — University of Nebraska-Lincoln officials are expected to unveil about $5 million in proposed budget cuts on Thursday.
Leaders at other NU campuses say they, too, are sharpening their budget knives, though it will be at least several weeks before they announce specific proposals.
The effort is getting under way even before the Legislature and the NU Board of Regents give final approval to the 2011-12 university budget. The Legislature is expected to give final passage to the state budget around May 17, while the Regents will set the NU budget on June 17.
Although most state agencies will have their budgets reduced next year, the Legislature’s Appropriations Committee has recommended no significant cuts to the university’s state funding. It will remain at roughly $495 million per year during the next two years.
Even so, NU administrators still will need to trim in some places to make room for rising costs in other areas.
After several years of stagnant faculty pay scales, NU President J.B. Milliken said it has become imperative to improve faculty salaries to remain competitive with peer institutions. Meanwhile, health care, fuel and utility costs continue to rise.
UNL, which takes the biggest share of the university budget, also faces the biggest cuts.
UNL Chancellor Harvey Perlman warned faculty and staff in an e-mail last week that the $5 million is just the start of what likely will be deeper cuts.
He estimated the total could come to as much as $9.7 million, assuming the regents approve a 2.5 percent pay increase and raise tuition 4 percent. The remaining $4.7 million would be identified after the regents give final approval to next year’s budget.
John Christensen, chancellor of the University of Nebraska at Omaha, said his campus has set a budget reduction target of about $2 million for planning purposes.
The process of identifying those cuts is under way. The proposed cuts will be reviewed by the strategic budget advisory committee and at a campuswide budget forum in early May. The plan won’t be finalize until after the June 17 regents meeting.
University of Nebraska at Kearney Chancellor Doug Kristensen said he expects to announce some proposed cuts in the coming weeks. He expects that the Kearney campus will need to trim between $600,000 and $1 million.
“We know we’re going to have to cut some amount of dollars,” he said. “You’ll see us come out with at least a portion of those in the next few weeks.”
Don Leuenberger, vice chancellor of business and finance at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, said his campus will wait until the regents set salary increases and tuition rates before deciding which cuts to make.
He noted that the medical center has no discretionary academic programs that can be eliminated. Its trims most likely will entail personnel and support services cuts.
UNL’s cuts must be reviewed by its Academic Planning Committee before they take effect. Perlman and UNL’s vice chancellors, deans and directors want to have an initial set of recommendations for the committee by May 1.
“We believe it is important to make some progress this spring so that the Academic Planning Committee can begin its processes,” Perlman says on his website, adding that the sooner budget cuts can be implemented, the better.
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