Last month, the state Department of Administration announced a new round of biennial budget cuts, termed a “lapse,” for many state government entities. This new round of significant cuts calls for UW System to further reduce its 2011-13 budget by $65.8 million to $113.8 million. On November 1, our UPLAN council, composed of officers of the Faculty Senate, the Oshkosh Student Association, the Senate of Academic Staff, the Classified Staff Advisory Council and the Chancellor’s staff, met and offered preliminary direction for UW Oshkosh’s share of the UW System lapse – between $3.2 million to $5.5 million over the biennium. In Year One of the biennium, our current academic year, our institution will need to cut between $2.3 million to $3.7 million with the remainder of the lapse cut following in Year Two.
The lapse was a safety valve incorporated into the state biennial budget in the event of lower-than-anticipated state revenues. Given our continued weak economy, it came as no surprise to us when the lapse was announced. In fact, we were prepared to cut another $1 million from our UW Oshkosh budget on top of the $12 million we had reduced with the campus community’s help earlier this year. That significant reduction helped the UW System close its initial, $250 million biennial budget shortfall. An additional $1 million reduction would have brought our overall UW Oshkosh 2011-13 budget cut to almost 12 percent – more than our fair share to balance the state budget but an amount we were prepared to handle in these challenging times.
Again, the budget lapse was no shock to us. However, what is startling and dismaying is the Department of Administration’s expectation that UW System institutions defray 38 percent of the lapse when our Universities command only 7 percent of state GPR revenue. This places an additional, disproportionate and unacceptable burden on our state’s 180,000 public University students. They have endured a 5.5 percent tuition increase, not to mention many other cuts further threatening educational quality. Now, they are being asked to foot five times their fair share of this additional state giveback, while K-12, technical college and private college students are, rightly so, held harmless.
Let me echo my previous commitment to you: UW System leaders, other Chancellors and I will continue to challenge the severe inequity of the proposed lapse cuts. We are already making our case to state legislators, the Governor and third-party supporters throughout the state that the right thing to do is to significantly decrease the UW System’s lapse amount. State Senator Dale Schultz has scheduled a special informational hearing on the challenges facing UW System institutions. His Committee on Agriculture, Forestry and Higher Education will hear from invited speakers on Tuesday, November 15. I will attend the hearing.
Meanwhile, with UPLAN’s help, we have shared a preliminary UW Oshkosh budget-cutting outline with UW System staff. They are filing a general lapse budget plan with the state Department of Administration. With that first step behind us, we must continue to work with the campus community to further define our lapse plans.
At UW Oshkosh, inclusive planning is our forte. We are efficient and strategic with our funds. We conserve where we can and invest where we must. Unfortunately, the reinvestment plans we developed earlier this year while closing a $12 million share of the UW System’s $250 million 2011-13 biennial budget shortfall may now be in jeopardy especially as we look into the second-year of the biennium.
This is where the continued input of our entire campus community is crucial.
Our consultation with our UPLAN council on November 1 helped us come to the decision to offer faculty, staff and students two new budget forums next week. All interested campus community members are encouraged to attend. As in the past, the forums will provide a new opportunity hear our general lapse cut strategy and to share concerns, comments and questions. The two forums will be held on Wednesday, November 16 at:
- 11:30 a.m. and 3 p.m.
- Both will be in Reeve Memorial Union Theatre, Room 307.
Our conversation with UPLAN helped bring into focus some of the initiatives this new lapse cut could initially affect. They include:
- The way in which we fill vacated positions. We have been committed to carefully filling key positions even in challenging budgetary times. However, the degree of lapse required of UW Oshkosh this time around will require us to be even more cautious in how and when we fill future positions. This consideration also puts increased pressure on our campus community to consider how we provide a quality education for a record number of students.
- A reevaluation of our Growth Agenda commitments. We are working with UW System to examine how we will recalibrate our Growth Agenda targets and timelines.
- The future of the Student Titan Employment Program. While we do not see STEP being affected in 2011-12, we will need to seriously examine funding levels for the program in 2012-13.
- Our plan to provide more funding for critical student academic support programs, such as tutoring, counseling and advising. This initiative will have to be put on hold.
Given the above, class sizes, student retention, time to degree and graduation rates will be seriously compromised while students’ educational experience will erode.
These are only some of the areas of our campus operation and programs that we must carefully consider as our lapse plans progress in the months ahead. Their value to our students, faculty and staff, and our institution, compel us to create a forum for feedback from all potentially affected.
We hope you will be able to join your colleagues November 16 as we outline the challenge before us. Again, your input, suggestions and questions are important. We pledge to continue to provide regular communications with the campus community on the progress of this latest budget-cutting process.
Whatever solutions we consider and settle on, we are committed to keeping them aligned with our five core budget principles that guide every level of decision making at UW Oshkosh, including the shared expectations that we:
- Value employees and abide by contracts, policies and established procedures.
- Budget for activities that are central to the mission, add value, or are required.
- Protect the direct instructional undergraduate and graduate teaching mission.
- Protect the integrity of services supporting the University’s mission.
- Continue the commitment to the University’s strategic plan and established priorities.
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