The University
of Texas at Tyler will reduce spending 10.5 percent in response
to the likelihood of falling State support for the upcoming 2003-04
fiscal year.
Preparation of budget details will begin next week. The overall
goal is to make targeted reductions, as opposed to across-the-board
cuts, to ensure adequate resources are available to meet institutional
priorities.
“Our
reductions will be made to focus our resources in support of our
core educational mission and our effort to attract students and
research dollars in accordance with budget reduction principles
that I announced in March,” President Rodney H. Mabry said.
The nine Principles
for Budget Reduction are intended to guide the university through
its budget-refocusing process. The focus is on maintaining the
quality educational opportunities available to students.
“Unlike
the one-time budget reduction in February for our current fiscal
year, the budget cuts we now face are long term, at least through
2005 and beyond in all likelihood. Therefore, we must approach
these cuts in a fundamentally different way. We must be strategic
in making our reductions so that our primary mission, educating
aspiring Texans in a quality way, will not be jeopardized,”
said Mabry.
The budget
UT Tyler develops must allow for the risk of future reductions
in State support, provide the resources to accommodate enrollment
growth and enhance the university’s ability to fund summer
teaching.
“I hope
to invest in our human capital with pay increases next year and
fund advances critical to the continuing development of UT Tyler.
Critically important initiatives include the development of new
academic programs, such as civil engineering and proposed doctoral
programs; addition of services to support faculty research; continuation
of our campus construction projects and creation of an appealing
student life experience at UT Tyler,” Mabry added.
Currently,
the State provides UT Tyler approximately $20.7 million per year
for operations other than tuition revenue bond debt service. State
funding represents nearly 60 percent of the entire operating budget,
with tuition, fees, donations, endowment income and research grants
making up the rest.
“Reductions
in state support have a more damaging impact on relatively young,
emerging universities like ours compared to more established institutions,”
Mabry said.
Although UT Tyler led the UT System in enrollment headcount increase
last fall, the State cannot fully fund the enrollment-driven formula.
“State
support to the university will decline even though our enrollment
has increased. We will have less money to educate more students
in the next two years,” said Mabry.
UT Tyler has
implemented a flexible hiring freeze as one of several efforts
to reduce current costs. Open positions are being eliminated wherever
possible; however, limited hiring will continue to fill those
positions too vital to lose.
At the moment,
the university is working to prevent personnel cuts. Nevertheless,
it is expected that less than 15 positions will be eliminated.
“Our
budget principles affirm the valuable and vital role of our faculty
and staff. Even though most of our State funding is spent on salaries,
wages and benefits, we will be able to make the most of the reductions
in areas other than personnel expenses,” Mabry added.
