UNMC today announced its plans to reduce its budget by $2 million for the fiscal year 2003-2004.
“None of these cuts are easy. We’ve tried to preserve our educational programs in these cuts, and I think that we’ve done a good job of selecting parts of the budget that will have the least impact on the overall vision of UNMC,” UNMC Chancellor Harold M. Maurer said.
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The morning forum will be broadcast to Room 201 at the College of Nursing, West Nebraska Division; to Room 148 of the West Center building in Kearney; and to Room 4 of the College of Dentistry in Lincoln. |
State support equaling $2 million will be cut in two areas at UNMC – academic support services and faculty support. In all, the state support for 34 full-time equivalent (FTE) positions – including 8.5 FTE faculty positions – will be eliminated. Academic support services includes those programs, other than faculty salaries, that support academic programs.
Dr. Maurer said it’s too early to determine how many employees and faculty will be affected. Revenue sources other than state support will be sought to fund those jobs deemed essential to the Medical Center mission, he said. Already, only 28 percent of the UNMC budget is state-supported. The rest of the campus’s revenue comes from cash accounts such as student tuition and clinical revenue; federal grants and contracts; restricted funds from non-federal grants and contracts, private gifts, professional fee income and University of Nebraska Foundation distributions; and auxiliary funds such as campus’s printing services, bookstore, parking and child care center.
“The Medical Center already has developed tremendous efficiencies over the years. We’re a leader among higher education institutions,” Dr. Maurer said. “We now need to find more ways to replace state support by generating additional monies, such as increasing federal support and clinical revenue.”
Monday’s announcement marked the fourth time over the past two years that UNMC’s state support has been reduced. Until Monday, that assistance had been cut $6.7 million. Monday’s announcement, which comprised the first phase of cuts for this year, likely isn’t the last budget-reduction announcement for this year.
UNMC officials plan to announce the campus’s next set of budget reductions in mid-April. If necessary, the final phase of cuts will be announced in June, after the Legislature has adjourned and the NU Board of Regents has set student tuition rates.
“We could face substantial reductions in the coming months, should the Legislature reduce next year’s state support by more than 5 percent,” Dr. Maurer said. “At that point, we would be forced to look at restructuring or eliminating an academic program or unit. That would affect our trajectory toward becoming a world-class academic health sciences center.”