Elizabeth Erwin
News Editor
[email protected]
With the state budget approved for the upcoming academic year, universities across Kentucky are finding ways to cope with the losses in funding.
The budget will cut base funding to public universities by 6.25 percent over the next two years but will also allocate $31 million into a performance funding pool.
Kentucky’s eight four-year public universities are experiencing shortfalls, and their administrations are identifying actions to balance the holes in their budgets.
EKU
At the forefront of budget cuts, Eastern Kentucky has taken more public measures compared to other universities to make up for their expected $25 million shortfall.
These measures include the suspension of certain employment positions and programs.
“Given our new fiscal realities, the University simply could not continue with a business-as-usual approach,” President Mike Benson said in a letter to the campus community.
“After a thorough program review process, 12 degree programs, two certificates, four minors and three concentrations were recommended by the Provost and Deans’ Council for suspension or transition based on enrollment trends, graduation rates, potential for growth and, in one case, changing professional requirements.”
University employment will also be reduced as 153 positions will be terminated.
“Just as with our academic programs, a reduction in personnel was unavoidable,” Benson said.
Despite these cuts, Eastern Kentucky has decided to remain committed to freezing tuition costs for the upcoming academic year.
Other notable cuts by the university include the closing of their regional Danville campus and restructuring the marching band.
NKU
In Florence, Kentucky the budget plan is expected to offset Northern Kentucky by $3.2 million.
To prepare for the shortfall, 78 faculty members received letters of potential non-reappointment on March 30, according to The Northerner, Northern Kentucky’s student newspaper.
The faculty members belong to a variety of departments, but 47 were from the College of Arts and Sciences.
Despite the letters, there have been no public plans to cut faculty or programs.
MSU
Morehead State currently plans to freeze tuition and housing rates for the upcoming academic year, although these plans are still dependent on a vote of approval from the Board of Regents during their June meeting.
“Even in difficult times in state budgets, Morehead State University has a commitment to retaining its long-held status as the most affordable university east of Frankfort,” Morehead State President Jay Morgan told The Morehead News.
To keep this commitment, the university has attempted to find faculty members willing to voluntarily separate from the university or reduce their employment status.
“We are resilient,” Morgan said. “Morehead State University has been resilient for 130 years now, and will continue to be. We aren’t going anywhere.”
WKU
Western Kentucky University is hoping to decrease their current budget by $16 million in order to make up for the loss of state funding.
A budget council was able to identify possibilities that would result in a $15 million reduction.
WKU President Timothy C. Caboni hopes that recommendations made by deans and division heads will help the university reach the goal of reducing their budget by $16 million.
“We will strive to achieve a balanced budget with as little job loss as possible,” Caboni said in a statement to the campus community on April 16.
The university plans to have a complete budget reduction plan by the end of the semester.
“I know this is a difficult process, but the goal is to create a realistic and stable institutional budget so we can position ourselves for healthy, sustainable growth in future years,” Cobani said.
“I am confident we will be a stronger, more focused university going forward.”
KSU
The Kentucky State University Board of Regents recently appointed Douglas R. Allen II as vice president for finance and administration/chief financial officer.
Allen will be responsible for reviewing all KSU spending and expenditures. He will begin his duties on May 7.
No other budget plans regarding the upcoming academic year have been announced.
U of L
The University of Louisville’s Board of Trustees will meet May 8 to finalize budget plans.
Joining Eastern Kentucky and Morehead State, Louisville is also planning to freeze tuition rates for the next academic year.
Nothing has been released regarding their budget and cuts since the Budget Advisory committee meeting in January.
UK
In early spring, the University of Kentucky launched a new initiative called “Our Path Forward.” The initiative called upon members of the campus community to contribute ideas that would generate savings for the university in order to prevent cuts.
“Our Path Forward” represents our attempt to take greater control of our financial future, not by cutting programs and reducing payroll, but by methodically and objectively reviewing how we can do our current work more effectively and how we seek new areas of growth and opportunity,” UK’s President Eli Capilouto said in a statement to the campus community following the initial passage of the state budget bill.
The findings from the initiative were presented to the University Senate on April 23.
“These teams were asked to identify various concepts,” Vice President Eric Monday said. “They created over 30 of them that would help us generate $8 to $10 million in net-recurring new university-wide revenues per team, per year.”
Pending on the results of the initiative, no academic programs are expected to be cut at this time.
Universities like Murray State who are seeking to raise tuition for the upcoming year will have to wait for the Council on Postsecondary Education to vote on the tuition rate cap. The vote will happen during the April 27 meeting of the CPE.
Overall, each university’s budget plan is likely to be finalized during the summer meetings of their respective board of regents.
