JACOB KONST/Arizona Daily Wildcat UA President Peter Likins, right, and provost George Davis listen to questions at the Campus Town Hall meeting Feb. 18.

Faculty, staff react to reallocations

President Peter Likins defended the budget reallocations announced last week and said the move will enable the UA to continue the Focused Excellence initiative by directing resources toward strong programs while stabilizing the university budget in three years.

Last week, university officials revealed nine budget reallocation strategies which would centralize university funding, including a half percent budget cut, a 10 percent carry forward tax and an increase in summer session tuition.

"In theory, that should equate to greater resource allocation to units with unmet needs and diminished allocations to those whose needs are not as severe," said Chris Segrin, department head of communication. "Whether budgets will actually redistribute in a fashion that is consistent with the term remains to be seen."

But Likins said administrators are "not just taking care of the poor" with the centralized funding, as many of the investments will go toward "excellent" programs.

While the budget reallocation will serve as a means to provide resources to programs that demonstrate excellence, Provost George Davis said some money will also be spent on units needing funding.

"Focused Excellence comes with the understanding the university must make some comprehensive investments," Davis said.

Introduced two and a half years ago, Focused Excellence called for the UA to capitalize on its strengths with the implicit understanding there would need to be broader investments in order to be a university, Davis said.

To date, program mergers and cuts as a result of Focused Excellence have saved $3.3 million and reallocated $1.7 million, according to a financial bulletin.

But Segrin said the Focused Excellence concept "has only been defined in a rather abstract sense" and because the details are not specified, departments cannot predict how the initiative will affect the allocation of resources, with the exception of a handful of units.

John Olsen, department head of anthropology, said although he remains optimistic the initiative can provide a coherent framework for reallocations, he does not think Focused Excellence has been thoroughly implemented yet.

Davis said although it may not be evident, Focused Excellence investments are occurring, whether it be through the Technology and Research Initiative Funding, the biotechnology movement or retaining key personnel.

Despite administrators' attempts to reallocate money and continue Focused Excellence, members of the campus community said another budget cut will hurt departments more than help them.

Olsen said any additional recessions will be "extremely difficult to bear" and expects he will have to lay off at least one staff member and cut back employee hours.

"Of course, the corollary effect of faculty members leaving the university for greener pastures as our own crisis worsens has me very concerned as well," Olsen said, referring to the "brain drain" issue.

The carry-forward tax in particular has also raised concerns among department heads, who contested the tax last month.

In the communication department, Segrin said the carry-forward tax is unfortunate because the money is already figured into the budget with $30,000 of summer session revenue encumbered to pay portions of staff salaries.

"If we do not roll some of this money over from one fiscal year to the next, we will not make payroll," Segrin said.

But Davis said many of the concerns stem from the economic culture of the university, as departments feel ownership of the money since the UA has operated on decentralized funds since 1991, meaning departments exercised more control on how and where the money was spent.

Specifically when dealing with the provost sweeping faculty lines, Davis said there is a sense of "anathema," even though departments do not react negatively when deans sweep lines.

Marie Swanson, dean of the College of Public Health, said the real issue is the Arizona Legislature's failure to provide funding to Arizona universities, even at the most basic levels.

After years of decreased state funding, Likins said the UA can no longer depend on the Legislature for sufficient resources, and changing the way the university manages the money it has is the only solution.

"President Likins has no choice but to make some cuts, and I believe he has done so in the most judicious manner possible and in ways that cause the least pain to academic units," Swanson said. Davis said the money could also go toward instructional budget and utilities costs.

"Those areas really frighten us in terms of inflationary adjustment," Davis said.

Although people may object to the budget reallocations, Likins said he has been open about the process, holding three town hall meetings since September informing the university of its financial situation.

"We didn't go as far as we thought last fall," Likins said. "They should be relieved."