Additional budget cuts at UNMC would have a very negative impact on the university, which in turn will hurt the state of Nebraska and its citizens, Chancellor Harold M. Maurer, M.D., said in response to the announcement Friday that the state budget shortfall has grown considerably.
The state economic forecasting board estimates that state revenues will fall more than $100 million below projections for 2002-2003. During their current session, state lawmakers will use those figures to adjust next year’s budget.
“Further budget cuts will seriously curtail the momentum our campus has experienced over the past couple of years,” Dr. Maurer said. “We are on our way to becoming a world-class academic health sciences center, but more cuts could impede our progress. Certainly, our students and the state’s citizens would be the end loser if this occurs.”
Dr. Maurer said it’s up to the Legislature and Gov. Mike Johanns to decide whether to cut the state’s budget, raise taxes or do both, but he stressed that the University of Nebraska should remain a priority.
“To grow and nurture an institution that benefits the people of Nebraska to its potential, we must have the resources to support our mission,” Dr. Maurer said. “Nebraskans deserve the best health-care treatment, and we want to help provide that through our research discoveries, education of professionals and outreach to the state. All of these would take major hits with additional budget reductions.”
Those budget cuts will translate into the loss of good faculty members, the inability to recruit new faculty, the loss of programs that attract top students, and the loss of services to citizens of Nebraska, especially in rural areas, Dr. Maurer said. Good faculty, Dr. Maurer said, are essential to maintaining the university’s quality.
Already, the University of Nebraska has cut $11 million from its 2002-2003 budget, with UNMC reducing its share by $2.2 million. That amount represents 1.98 percent of the total UNMC budget. With that decrease, Dr. Maurer said, about 16 faculty positions and 14 staff positions would be cut.
“Although harmful, we have tried to manage this reduction in a way to minimize the impact on students and our research and outreach efforts,” Dr. Maurer said.
To help turn around the state’s economic fortunes, Dr. Maurer said, university funding should be a priority.
“The University of Nebraska is an economic driver, the most important in the state,” Dr. Maurer said. “In the long run, nothing will be more harmful to the state’s economic health than to diminish the quality of the university.”