The following is the second half of a story from Monday’s paper titled “UT system takes steps to offset budget cuts.”
UT systems President John Petersen notified all faculty and staff of the additional reductions in an Oct. 6 announcement on his Web site. Petersen said the Commissioner of Finance and Administration in Nashville had notified him of the additional required reductions.
“Coming on top of the $21.2 million reduction previously enacted, this of course, is a serious concern for the university,” Petersen said. “We will focus on protecting our core mission and the quality of our education and research product. Our people are a critical element of that focus.”
Chattanooga
Because of the UT system’s request for an initial $2,682,200 cut on the Chattanooga campus, the campus had to cut $1.12 million from their own previously proposed budget, said Chuck Cantrell, assistant vice chancellor for University Relations for the Chattanooga campus.
“(We) responded … by leaving positions vacant, limiting travel and reducing institutional support to departments and programs,” Cantrell said. “At this point, no particular program has been cut to the point that stands out beyond others. The operating cuts have been based on strategic plans and goals, paying special attention to protect academic quality. The operating cuts so far have been absorbed by the programs.”
The Chattanooga campus is still working on plans for how to offset the October budget cuts, Cantrell said.
“We have instructed to plan for an additional reduction to go into effect in January,” Cantrell said. “The reduction plan to make these cuts is not yet finalized on our campus. We have a working deadline of Nov. 15 to develop that plan.”
Martin
With an initial reduction of $1,965,000 on the Martin campus, no programs were cut, said Al Hooten, vice chancellor for finance and administration for the Martin campus.
“Regarding the cuts we had to make at the start of the school year, timing was quite short, so we directed reductions primarily at operating expenses,” Hooten said. “On Sept. 1, we initiated a freeze on filling all vacant positions, including faculty, staff and student positions. There is an appeal process through which a department may submit requests to fill in special circumstances, and each request is considered individually in context of the criticality of the position.”
As for additional reductions on the Martin campus, Chancellor Tom Rakes established a committee to examine organization and effectiveness, Hooten said.
“A committee comprised of faculty and staff met numerous times and held open forums for students, faculty and staff to provide input on areas of the campus they recommend for effectiveness measures or for organizational change,” Hooten said.
The committee’s report was released on Nov. 4, and all divisions of the Martin campus were asked to submit recommendations for further budget reductions, Hooten said.
Health Sciences Center
The Health Sciences Center sustained an initial combined budget cut of $2,751,500 to its three campuses in Memphis, Knoxville and Chattanooga. While no programs have been cut or reduced, a hiring freeze has been implemented, and faculty positions have been limited or removed altogether, said Kennard D. Brown, executive vice chancellor and chief of staff for the UT Health Sciences Center.
“Since the first round of budget cuts were announced in July, a number of UTHSC professors and team members with more than 30 years of employment have converted to part-time instead of full-time service,” Brown said. “Additionally, a number of faculty and staff members with lengthy years of service have taken early retirement.”
For the Health Sciences Center, the additional October cuts called for a $4,435,600 reduction for its three campuses. The administration is working to attain private funding to supplement lacking state funding, Brown said.
“The UTHSC administration is also working through its Development Office to establish stronger relationships with private foundations and philanthropists to increase private donations to our organization,” Brown said.
Knoxville
On Oct. 9, Jan Simek, Knoxville interim chancellor, released an announcement on his Web site with detailed reductions for the Knoxville campus and to express his concern.
“I realize that most of you feel like you’re being hit with nothing but bad news these days,” Simek said. “Quite honestly, these are not good times for our university, but we are not the only ones feeling pain.”
Simek said the Knoxville campus would respond to the impoundment by instituting the following measures: “reduction or elimination of travel and field opportunities for students; reduction in the ability to modernize teaching and classrooms through the use of technology; cancellation of courses, particularly at the upper division level, which will affect students’ access to courses and their ability to graduate; reduction in faculty research support and additional reductions in the number of faculty lines, which will require that we hire lecturers to replace tenure-track faculty positions; reduction in funding for admissions, which will impact processing of student applications; and reduction of maintenance funding, which will further delay overdue maintenance on many buildings.”
The Space Institute, the Institute of Agriculture, the Institute for Public Service and System Administration sustained the remainder of the combined $38.2 million of July and October cuts not absorbed by the Knoxville, Martin or Chattanooga campuses or the Health Sciences Center.
