[PAA-Discuss] A&M planning for the worst

[Sarah Gonzales]

Thought this might be of interest - very scary stuff.

<snip>
A&M planning for the worst
http://www.theeagle.com/local/A-amp-amp-M-planning-for-the-worst

By VIMAL PATEL
vimal.patel at theeagle.com
Published Wednesday, July 21, 2010 12:10 AM

The equivalent of nearly 500 faculty and staff positions could be  
eliminated from Texas A&M University, including 210 that currently are  
filled, documents released Tuesday show.
The preliminary plans, submitted by the deans of the colleges and  
heads of divisions, paint the first comprehensive picture of what a  
"worst-case scenario" of a budget reduction could look like for the  
49,000-student university. They were released following an open- 
records request filed by The Eagle on Friday.

"We are a people-focused business -- there's no other way to get  
around that," said Texas A&M President R. Bowen Loftin in an interview  
Tuesday morning. "In particular, the state funding that we receive  
goes almost entirely to pay people's wages and salaries. So if that  
money's reduced, there's not much else you can do but reduce people."

The plan reflects a 10 percent state reduction -- $39 million at Texas  
A&M University for the year starting September 2011. A&M leaders also  
want to reallocate $21 million to fund merit pay and strategic  
spending, making the total reduction commitment $60 million from the  
colleges and units.

The final state reduction amount won't be known until next summer, and  
depends on the state's fiscal health. Estimates place the shortfall  
for the next biennium in the range of $11 billion to $17 billion.

Loftin and Interim Provost Karan Watson stressed during an interview  
that the plans are far from final and could change. A series of  
discussions are taking place. A committee with representation of  
faculty, staff, deans, students and administrators were meeting  
Tuesday to comb through the initial plans.

Discussions with targeted groups will unfold over the next two weeks  
and, after that, with the broader university community in town-hall- 
like meetings.

Watson said the administration is committed to open dialogue, and  
noted that not all universities facing reductions have done so.

"We're actually not enjoying the conversation so much as we're taking  
pride in the fact that we are committed to shared governance," she said.

Tightening the belt

The planned reduction amounts to 93 filled faculty slots and 117  
staff. The remaining eliminations -- roughly 100 faculty and 175 staff  
-- represent those who are retiring and vacant positions.

"In all honesty, there is no way that you can be engaging in this  
level of cuts and not have an impact on the teaching and research  
mission," said Doug Palmer, dean of the College of Education, which  
has planned to reduce eight filled and nearly 10 vacant faculty  
positions to cut into its $2.1 million reduction goal.

The Mays Business School, charged with planning a $3.4 million  
reduction in fiscal year 2012, has slated a loss of 26.5 full-time  
equivalent (FTE) faculty positions, including nearly 23 currently  
filled, the documents show. That would correspond to a loss of roughly  
200 course sections, officials wrote.

Through the elimination of nearly 12 FTE non-tenure track faculty and  
12.5 staff positions, along with faculty retirements, departures and  
reassignments, the College of Engineering has planned to make a $2.8  
million dent in its $5.5 million reduction goal.

In the College of Liberal Arts, which has the most students, the  
equivalent of 16 faculty positions would be eliminated to save nearly  
$1.37 million. The college, which has been charged with $4.7 million  
in reductions, has also slated 10 vacant faculty positions to be  
eliminated.

University Libraries, which operates five campus libraries and a  
digital library, has been asked to reduce $3.1 million. Plans include  
saving $471,000 from reductions of 17 staff positions, $1.2 million  
from books and $800,000 from subscriptions.

The College of Science has planned to cut 21 lecturers, roughly a  
third of the college's force, along with about 60 graduate assistant  
positions. The pair of moves would save about $2.2 million of the  
college's nearly $5 million reduction amount, but with a severe impact  
on teaching and research, officials say.

"Unfortunately, we have no other place to cut any further," a summary  
states.


Lowest paid, hardest hit

Cutting tenured and tenure-track faculty is more difficult and would  
hurt the university's academic reputation, so the reduction would  
naturally fall most heavily on non-tenured instructors, which include  
lecturers, teaching assistants and adjunct and visiting faculty.

"My biggest problem is so much of my budget is tied up in tenured and  
tenure-track faculty," said Joseph Newton, dean of the College of  
Science.

The college's five departments -- biology, chemistry, math, physics/ 
astronomy and statistics -- each have budgets of between roughly 50  
and 75 percent tied up in the salaries of tenured and tenure-track  
faculty, Newton said.

In fact, all 93 filled faculty positions slated for reduction are non- 
tenure track. The 92 tenured or tenure track positions that are slated  
for elimination are either vacant or represent retirements.

This could have a disproportionate impact on class sizes, since non- 
tenure track faculty's efforts are more often solely dedicated to  
teaching than their tenured counterparts, who often conduct research.

The last period that the university faced a major cut was in 2003. It  
was roughly 8 percent of state funding. The upcoming planned reduction  
may be significantly more painful since it possibly could be as large  
as 10 percent, but that it also follows a reduction this current  
biennium of 5 percent, or roughly $28 million.


Economy to play role

Legislators such as Rep. Fred Brown, a Bryan Republican, said the cut  
is expected to be less than state entities have been asked to plan for  
because of signs of economic recovery.

Watson told the Faculty Senate last week that officials expect it to  
be about half the size, but that it's only prudent to plan for the  
worst.

However, Loftin said, if the reduction amount of $39 million from the  
state turns out to be less, the money will not go back to the units  
and colleges, but remain centrally to be spent on strategic priorities.

"Our goal is to identify ways to reinvest funding across the  
university," Loftin said. "If we don't have to take a reduction of $39  
million from the state, we're going to have additional funds to put  
against our highest priorities."

Several, including top leaders such as Loftin and academic leaders,  
such as Jorge Vanegas, dean of the College of Architecture, have said  
this could be a time of opportunity.

"You cannot sugarcoat this," said Vanegas, whose college has planned  
for $1.37 million in reductions, earlier this month. "But you can't  
overinflate it, either. Yes, it's going to hurt, but the way I look at  
this, it's a chance to reinvent ourselves." 
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