UCOP proposes to reduce annual budget

In the latest effort to restructure the University of California Office of the President, Provost and Executive Vice President Wyatt R. Hume presented a proposal last month that would require the office to reduce its annual spending by 20 percent and its work force by 23 percent.

The proposal is the latest in the ongoing effort to restructure the UCOP to make it a more effective and centralized working body.

The proposed budget is a step forward toward achieving a more effective organization, Hume said, in a town hall meeting last month.

“This budget for UCOP is a critical milestone in our effort to completely rethink the organization and functions of the Office of the President,” Hume said.

The proposal is a step forward toward meeting their goal, although there is still work left, Hume said.

“Our work is not yet complete, but the savings proposed in this budget are dramatic, and they put us on an even faster track to achieving a leaner and more effective central administrative organization,” Hume said.

UCOP serves as the central administrative organization for the UC system and provides support for the president of the university. Over the years, many academic and public programs have made their way into UCOP, and the transferring of these programs will allow for a more focused administration, Hume said.

“We will deliver better service in support of the president and the campuses than we’ve been able to do in the past because we will be more rationally structured. This office has grown and grown and grown as we’ve taken on more and more things. And often when people didn’t quite know where something would be done and, well, the Office of the President will look after them,” Hume said.

The project is spearheaded by Hume and Executive Vice President Katherine N. Lapp, who have created teams to reevaluate the core structure of UCOP and determine what programs are best suited for it. Roughly half of the savings in the proposal arise from moving certain programs, such as the Continuing Education of the Bar, to other campuses where they will be included in the individual campus’s budget.

The other half of the savings would come from $52 million in budget cuts and employment reductions, resulting in the elimination of 404 full-time-equivalent positions. Additional savings from a voluntary employee severance program and from one-time unexpected funds would make the total reduction $56.7 million in the 2008 to 2009 budget.

Still, the savings are being achieved with fewer than two dozen layoffs because of various methods being implemented to ensure the least amount of people are laid off. The voluntary employee separation program and attrition have downsized the number of layoffs; those being affected are offered job search assistance.

The proposal comes at a time when the University of California faces a possible $400 million budget reduction as a result of the state’s $16 billion deficit. The proposal sees an added benefit as a result of the budget crisis, though the restructuring would have occurred regardless of the state’s deficit, said D’Artagnan Scorza, student regent-designate.

“Had the budget cuts not occurred, we would still be talking about restructuring,” said Scorza, noting the main purpose of the proposal is to streamline and make UCOP a more effective administration.

“The system has potential still to be even greater than it is now,” Hume said.

“There are still things that we can capture from this system, even at the present level of resources that can make us even better.”

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