Millions more expected to be cut next year; university takes hits across the board

UA lost $60.7 million of its billion-dollar budget in this academic year, due largely to state legislatorsâ mid-year budget cuts, loss of funds for building upkeep and smaller-than-expected pay raises for UA employees.

The cuts have meant canceled classes and unhappy administrators having to make tough choices about what to keep and what to cut at the University of Arizona. One college fell under the budget ax this year and UA administrators are asking the legislators not to cut any more funding next year.

But cuts will return and may intensify in 2002-2003 under lawmakersâ most recent proposals.

ãThe clouds are darkening, and we do not yet see a sign of relief,ä UA President Peter Likins said.

Accounting in the red

In early September, Gov. Jane Dee Hull asked the UA and many other state agencies to plan for a 4 percent budget cut, which she said was needed because the state appeared to be facing a deficit of more than $1 billion over two years.

Later that month, Hull confirmed that the state would undoubtedly cut $14 million or more out of $347 million in funds the University of Arizona uses to pay instructors and hold classes.

That number later grew to $16.7 million, but state legislators cut other areas of the university budget as well, leaving UA with a total of $60.7 million less than officials had originally planned for.

Sixty percent of Arizonaâs state budget is protected from budget cuts, leaving what Hull calls a ãdisproportionateä amount of the cuts falling on universities and the other 40 percent of unprotected state agencies.

State politics have played a big role at the UA too this year.

At one point, the Legislature eyed tuition as a source for state revenue.

On Feb. 14, Hull asked UA administrators how they would handle another budget cut and fund employee raises without any state money.

UA employees and students took a few trips to Phoenix this year to urge lawmakers to keep the UA budget in mind.

Seventy students from Arizonaâs three universities rallied at the State Capitol in mid-November as lawmakers turned toward budget considerations.

The students asked legislators to keep the cuts to 4 percent, or $13.8 million, with a campaign dubbed ãNo More than 4.ä

UA employees also took to the Capitol this spring, joining a crowd of about 500 public employees in demanding their raises.

State lawmakers were going back and forth over whether to eliminate a raise for all state employees in February, including workers at the UA. Hull proposed eliminating the raises.

Employees waved signs demanding lawmakers who had voted against the raises be voted out of office in elections this fall.

Employees will receive a raise of $1,450 on June 8 this year to account for inflation, but it isnât the raise of $1,500 or 5 percent ÷ the greater amount for each employee ÷ that had been signed into law last year, then repealed by the Legislature in December.

UA takes a hit

The budget cuts have rippled throughout the university, with the effects evident in cancaneled classes, employees who have lost or left their jobs and the closure of one college.

By February, UA had eliminated 115 classes and let go of 54 adjuncts and 15 full-time employees as a result of the budget cuts, Likins said.

Arizona International College, a seven-year-old liberal arts college that serves 417 students, will close in 2006, giving current students four years to graduate. Thirty-two employees at AIC will lose their jobs as their contracts expire.

In October, Likins proposed closing AIC. Hull praised his decision. The Arizona Board of Regents voted in November to close the college.

The administration also spread the cuts across campus in other ways.

Campaign Arizona, a billion-dollar fundraiser that is one of the largest university fundraisers nationwide, returned $1.15 million that was supposed to go for increased fundraising.

Colleges cut 3 percent of their budgets, trimming $8 million across UA.

One classroom to be filled with computers has remained empty all spring at the Integrated Learning Center, an underground work and classroom area below the UA Mall, because administrators cut $850,000 from the budget there.

Money from last yearâs tuition hike that was slotted for improving academic advising ÷ $800,000 in all ÷ was used instead to ease budget cuts across UA.

From October to December, a hiring freeze was in place, so all new hires had to be cleared by a vice president and Likins. Five hundred positions were vacant in the fall and could not readily be filled. The freeze has been relaxed, but supervisors who want to hire new employees still need clearance with a vice president, just not Likins.

Administrators started their own campaign to raise tuition this year in an attempt to replace lagging state funding.

Likins asked the regents to raise tuition by $300 ÷ or 12 percent ÷ for resident students and $1,000, or 9.7 percent, for non-residents.

ãThe cuts will be permanent,ä Likins said before the regents voted on tuition. ãWe will eliminate other programs. We will absolutely destroy parts of this university.ä

But the regents approved a $96 increase for residents and a $750 increase for non-residents, raising tuition only enough to keep pace with inflation in higher education.

Likins said he hopes the end of budget cuts is in sight for 2004, but for next year, the story of fewer classes and more job cuts seems sure to continue.

Looking down the road

The governor has proposed the UA budget be trimmed again ÷ by $8.2 million in the next academic year. Two legislators have proposed a $6.8 million cut.

If either of these proposals become a reality, Likins expects more than 320 additional classes will be canceled and 120 jobs lost.

The fact to keep in mind, said UA Provost George Davis, is that a lot of the cuts made this year were made with savings, or other one-time funds. Now that the money from savings is gone, UA administrators will have to target jobs and classes much more, because 85 percent of the UA budget pays personnel.

Under preliminary proposals from the appropriations chairs of the state House and Senate, UA would face another $6.8 million cut next year and receive $2.6 million less than administrators are requesting to hire teachers to support the biggest incoming freshman class in UA history.

The proposal also pulls $1.5 million for funding to finish a building now under construction at UA South in Sierra Vista, money the UA will have to find elsewhere to pay contractors if it is cut.

A competing proposal by Senate Republican Floor Leader Ken Bennett would mean a greater cut of $9.9 million.

However, Bennettâs proposal would extend the raise UA employees got this year into the future and would fund K-12 construction on bonds, possibly freeing up more state dollars for the UA.

Deans have been asked to plan how they would reduce their budgets by $6.12 million total via budget cuts in colleges and departments.

ãItâs going to be very difficult,ä said Joaquin Ruiz, dean of the College of Science. ãWeâre not going to be able to hire faculty forever. Weâre going to have to give back (money from vacant positions) to the state. Weâre going to have to stop teaching courses at all levels · We wonât have enough money to hire TAs, so all around, itâs a disaster.ä