Administrators could reduce the university budget by half a percent, keep 10 percent of department carry forward funds and shift faculty salaries, which are three of 17 proposals to reallocate money to help the UA deal with its continuing budget crisis.

President Peter Likins and Provost George Davis announced their money-saving ideas Friday, plans which are still under consideration but sure to upset members of the university community, Likins said in December.

In June, administrators cut the UA budget across the board by 2 percent after the state failed to cover rising health care costs and employee benefits. To avoid a financial disaster again, Likins said administrators could cut the budget by half a percent annually in anticipation of future losses.

Central administration could also tax carry-forward funds, which are department monies left over at the end of each fiscal year. These funds "carry forward" in the same department to the next fiscal year.

However, Likins said under the proposed plan, central administration would take 10 percent of the funds to pay for overhead costs such as rising utility bills.

Mary Durham, financial manager of University Animal Care, disagreed with the proposal and said instead of taxing carry-forward funds, departments should loan 10 percent to other units and then get the money back later.

Davis argued the money would be better spent on new academic initiatives rather than residing in the "passive situation" of department surplus funds.

"Does the money really have to go (to unit surpluses) if we are sitting here not able to pay our gas bill?" Likins asked.

Another proposal would shift faculty salaries from state funding to other resources, namely federal grants and research contracts.

Dick Roberts, director of the budget office, said faculty research grants pull in about $400 million annually, roughly one-third of the university's operating budget.

If the UA could capitalize on such grants, administrators could shift more funding toward arts and humanities - areas where there are "true excellence" but "no domain of external funding," Likins said.

However, Tim Jull, director of the Arizona Accelerator Mass Spectrometry Laboratory and senior research scientist in geosciences, said administrators' ideas to centralize money would hurt already under-funded units.

Davis defended the plans for reallocation to different departments, stressing the importance of "a university that celebrates a diversity of academic missions."

In an effort to reduce department sizes and subsequent costs, Likins also said department heads may have to seek permission from the Provost's Office before hiring new faculty when trying to fill vacated positions.

Davis said department heads' "sense of self-worth" come from filling vacated lines after retirements, but the university places too much emphasis on the idea that larger means better.

Instead, Davis said it is more important to support fewer faculty members.

"To sustain the quality of an enterprise, you must get smaller," Likins said. "You cannot sacrifice quality."

Likins said although he expects campus-wide objections to the reallocation proposal, the financial management changes will pay off in the long-run.

"It's like making sausage," Likins said of the budget reallocation process. "It's not pretty to watch, but (in the end) it tastes good."