UCLA is concerned that further cuts might force it to eliminate
courses. UC Riverside may not be able to maintain the buildings it
has just constructed. Oceanographical research programs at UCSD
have been pushed to the threshold of their tolerance.
As a state-subsidized university system, budgetary woes are
nothing new for the University of California. But this year, the
word “crisis” is creeping into administrative
vocabularies, and university officials are desperately searching
for ways to preserve the education for which the UC is famous.
Over the last four years the UC has seen its funding decrease by
16 percent and enrollments increase by 16 percent, and this year
for the first time since the inception of the California Master
Plan for Higher Education in 1960, funding cuts forced the UC to
turn away 3,200 eligible students.
If Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s budget for 2004-2005 is
approved as it has been proposed, the UC would be $1.4 billion
below the funding levels former Gov. Gray Davis promised as part of
the state’s partnership agreement with the UC.
Already reeling from the deep cuts of previous years, the
individual universities are currently using the governor’s
budget proposal as a guide to prepare for next year’s
cuts.
Some hope the regents’ advocacy efforts will convince the
Legislature to be more charitable to the UC in the final budget
““ and the governor’s May revision will give a better
idea of what the final numbers might be ““ but the situation
looks dire.
“We asked all of our units to prepare for a 5 percent cut
to see what would happen — we found that those units have already
been cut, and further cuts would require those units to cut back on
the number of courses offered,” said Steve Olsen, UCLA vice
chancellor for finance and budget.
Olsen said further cuts could make it harder for students to get
their classes and extend the time needed to get a degree. He added
that less student progress could result because of further
cuts.
“It’s kind of a catch-22,” Olsen said.
“We are given a target, and if we can’t meet that
target because we don’t get enough money from the state, we
get less money from the state … this could happen.”
Other UCs like San Diego have already had to dip into funding
reserves to pay for operational maintenance and utility bills.
“We are doing more with less,” said Margie Pryatel,
budget officer for UCSD. “To a certain extent, that is good,
but we have staff who haven’t gotten pay increases, and they
are being asked to do more.”
Pryatel said outreach and research have been hit particularly
hard at UCSD, which have taken $23.8 million in cuts over the last
two years.
She said UCSD has had to lay off student service employees, and
that the Scripps Institution of Oceanography ““ a 101-year-old
center for marine science and technology ““ cannot sustain
more funding reductions.
“We are trying to maintain quality, but it gets harder
with every cut,” Pryatel said.
David Larson, a controller for UCSD whose department conducts
accounting and reporting of financial records, said his staff is
suffering from the effects of the budget cuts.
Larson said stress levels are rising as his staff are asked to
tackle larger workloads with less resources. He also said his staff
is in its second year without merit pay increases, and facing
another year or two of the same.
“This makes it very difficult to retain our most
experienced staff when our salary levels trail the market by a
significant percentage,” he said. “While not a crisis
yet, if things don’t turn around in the next year or so, we
would be facing a serious situation.”
Kelly Ratliff, assistant vice chancellor for budget at UC Davis,
said Davis has been hit hard in its research and outreach
programs.
The large agricultural research programs at Davis were cut
severely in past years ““ the Cooperative Extension Program
which works for sustainable agricultural growth and better
nutrition ““ took $2.42 million in cuts in 2003, and is facing
more deep cuts this year.
A report released by UC Davis in Spring 2003 said further cuts
could force the university to “close offices and facilities,
begin layoffs, and eliminate core Cooperative Extension and
agricultural research programs.”
Sandra Campbell, associate vice chancellor of campus budget at
UC Irvine, said Irvine has been spending its financial reserves to
avoid touching academic programs.
Campbell said Irvine is “dealing with these permanent
reductions in a temporary kind of manner … they are looking at
efficiencies, so they can deal with the cuts when they
come.”
Kathleen Peach, campus spokeswoman for UC Riverside, said
administrative cuts have forced Riverside to take a short-term
approach, deferring routine maintenance and leaving positions
unfilled.
“You can only do that for so long, and then you start to
put the campus in a vulnerable position,” Peach said.
She added that Riverside, which has been a growing campus in
recent years, could also find itself in a situation where it is
unable to maintain new buildings.
“If what you mean by the edge is protecting the academic
core by sacrificing non-academic programs, then we are getting
close to that situation,” Peach said.
All of the UCs are striving to be more efficient, but Olsen said
the cuts are too large to be surmounted by efficiency alone.
He said UCLA, which spends $400 million each year on supplies
““ from medical instruments to paper clips ““ has saved
several million dollars by reducing the cost of those supplies. But
Olsen said those savings cannot overcome the $7,000 per student
funding shortfall.
Olsen said the deficit could only be overcome if the regents
raise student fees.
The regents are expected to make a decision about student fees
at their next meeting in mid-May, by which time they should have
seen the May revise.
The regents have been conducting an advocacy campaign in hopes
of getting a better May revise, but regents agree 2004-2005 will be
another hard year.
“The point of the advocacy campaign is to try to get more
funding, but at least we hope we won’t get less,” said
George Blumenthal, vice chairman of the UC Academic Senate.
Blumenthal added that while the UC may not be able to expect
much relief this year, in light of the state’s fiscal
situation, the hope is to come to an agreement with the Legislature
that would facilitate a recovery next year.
“The university is taking a view that we have to stop this
bleeding,” he said.