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Citing a report by the University of Nebraska’s budget office, UNMC Chancellor Harold M. Maurer, M.D., said the spending-cap bill, known as Initiative Measure 423, could cost the medical center millions and lead to major cuts throughout the university system.
According to the budget office’s report, had the ban been enacted 10 years ago, the fiscal year 2006-2007 budget for the entire university system, which is currently $454 million, would be $134 million.
If that decrease filtered down proportionately through the university’s four campuses, UNMC’s budget for this year would have been chopped by $30 million.
“That means we would have to cut programs, maybe even schools,” Dr. Maurer said.
The only way to offset the lack of state funding would be to raise tuition to levels comparable, and in some cases exceeding, private colleges and universities, Dr. Maurer said.
Also during the forums, which were attended by nearly 200 people, UNMC Human Resources Director John Russell reported on the preliminary results from the 2006 UNMC Employee Satisfaction Survey.
In almost every category, UNMC employees were more satisfied with their workplace experience than they were when the last survey was taken in 2004, Russell said.
And in the few categories that saw a decline in satisfaction from 2004, the level of employee satisfaction was still very high, Russell said.
UNMC benefits specialist Jo Watkins discussed the upcoming enrollment in the NU Flex benefits program, which starts Nov. 13 and ends Dec. 1.
Watkins also noted that for the first time in several years, health insurance premiums for active, full-time UNMC employees did not go up.
Director of Facilities, Planning and Construction Ron Schaefer reported on the UNMC facilities plan that was recently approved by the Board of Regents.
The plan featured a synopisis of UNMC’s projected expansion over the next several years, including the possibility of moving Saddle Creek Road west to make room for more medical center facilities.