Chancellor Gene Block addressed the Legislative Assembly of the Academic Senate on Thursday to discuss UCLA’s response to the reduction in state funding for the UC system.
Speaking to a large audience in the Charles E. Young Grand Salon, Block emphasized that there is little chance for additional increases in student fees, at least for this year.
But he did say academic departments would need to trim spending.
Steven Olsen, vice chancellor of finance, budget and capital programs, and Scott Waugh, executive vice chancellor and provost, also discussed the university’s options to comply with the mandatory reduction in spending.
For the 2008-2009 fiscal year, Olsen said that the University of California will need to cut $176 million, with $32 million in cuts for UCLA alone. However, he said that the university had already anticipated this move and covered $18 million.
But for the 2009-2010 fiscal year, Olsen said that the cuts to the UC is $619 million, with a $109 million impact on UCLA, a much greater amount than the university had anticipated.
Despite Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s insistence that $314 million of this sum is a onetime funding reduction, Olsen said that UCLA must assume that it is all a funding reduction until evidence points to the contrary.
“Let me make this clear ““ this is not a joke,” Olsen said. “It is the final number in the budget.”
Although he said that the state Legislature was looking to increase funding for Cal Grants, there did not seem to be a response toward restoring funds to the university budget.
As a result, salary reductions for faculty and employee furloughs are being discussed, although Olsen said that the UC Board of Regents has not yet reached a decision on this issue. Olsen also said that the reduction of student enrollment for the 2010-2011 year will be considered, as the cost savings would be “substantial.”
In addition to these options, Waugh said that curriculum changes such as the revision of requirements for majors and minors, as well as General Education requirements, may be implemented.
Furthermore, the number of maximum units may be reduced, as well as the total number of courses, which could lead to a 10 to 20 percent reduction in academic departments over several years.
In terms of raising revenue, the university hopes to utilize the summer session to reduce the number of classes necessary throughout the year, as well as to implement differential fees by schools or subject. Waugh also said that the university may increase admission of nonresident students.
The nature of these cuts, as well as the rapidly changing financial outlook, has several faculty members skeptical of the effects of the university’s proposal on students.
“We’re all just watching and waiting,” said Dorothy Wiley, an associate professor in the UCLA School of Nursing and the chair of the undergraduate council of the Academic Senate. “But the last thing we’d want to see are students being negatively impacted.”