From the Gainsville Sun, by Nathan Grabbe
Gov. Rick Scott gave state universities some good news Tuesday by sparing the kind of building construction and maintenance funding that he vetoed last year.
But the budget that he signed has plenty of bad news for the university system as a whole. State university funding was slashed by $300 million in the next fiscal year.
State lawmakers based the cuts in part on the idea that universities could tap reserves. But University of Florida administrators have said they think it's prudent to plan for the funding not to be restored. For individual colleges at UF, using so-called reserves can depend on whether the money is otherwise committed to specific items or has been used to plug previous holes.
"When you think of a reserve, it's not like a checking account ... The amount of latitude we have is very limited," said College of Fine Arts Dean Lucinda Lavelli.
Building projects escaped the governor's veto pen this time around. The money includes $6 million for UF's center at the medical city at Lake Nona in Orlando, money that Scott vetoed last year. It also includes nearly $9 million for building repairs that must be distributed among all 11 state universities.
The budget continues funding cuts for universities such as UF. Its state support since fiscal year 2008 has been reduced about $189.1 million or 28.5 percent. UF has used 15 percent annual tuition increases to help fill the gap and plans to do so again in the coming year. If Scott signs a bill allowing a larger tuition increase for schools that meet certain standards, UF plans to wait until fall 2013 to impose those tuition hikes.
UF officials say that about $38.2 million in cuts must still be made. That includes cuts from last year's budget that UF used non-recurring funds to address. John Biro, president of the United Faculty of Florida union at UF, said the university should use such funds again to deal with this year's cuts.
Biro contends that the university is instead using cuts as an excuse to shift funds from existing programs and faculty to other priorities. He contrasted UF's approach with that of Florida State University, which is handling the reductions through reserves and previously made cuts.
"The Legislature made its cuts on the assumption that (universities) have the reserves, they're expendable and they would spend them," Biro said. "If they don't, don't you think the Legislature will be back for them next year?"
UF is distributing cuts to colleges through its responsibility-centered management budgeting, or RCM, system. It bases funding on college revenue from sources such as student credit hours and expenses such as space used, so cuts vary depending on that formula. The College of Fine Arts, for example, faces a cut of a nearly 5 percent, or about $688,000, under the system.
Lavelli said the college's actual reduction is far greater, closer to 14 percent, due to the previous spending of college reserves and one-time funding that is now depleted. The college used the money to pay for expenses under the RCM system such as studio space required for its art programs, she said.
The college has increased credit hours but not enough to prevent cuts, she said. Much of the remaining money in reserves is committed to specific items such as financial aid, she said.
"This is not easy at all, because every move you make has an impact," she said.
Other colleges, such as nursing, plan to use money carried forward from previous years to address cuts. Some, such as business, are using retirements to fill the gap.
Biro said the university should freeze hiring or consider steps taken by other universities such as canceling some summer classes before making any cuts that result in layoffs.
"You cut some expenses, but you don't cut into the flesh," he said.
Contact Nathan Crabbe at 338-3176 or nathan.crabbe@gvillesun.com. For more stories on the University of Florida, visit www.thecampussun.com.
http://www.gainesville.com/article/20120417/ARTICLES/120419629/1002/news01?Title=Scott-agrees-to-300-million-cut-in-university-funding
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