Today the University of Vermont announced details of its plan to cut $10.8 million from next year's general fund budget. The University is eliminating vacant positions, increasing student/faculty ratios modestly to achieve a long-planned target, curtailing some administrative programs, and making a limited number of layoffs. In addition to cuts in the University's general operating budget, reductions are also being implemented in income/expense activities supported by non-tuition fees and other income. The majority of the cuts will take effect on June 30, 2009. The budget plan also includes investments to support students and families and to sustain UVM's plan for high-quality, diverse enrollment during a period of economic stress in Vermont and around the world.
Actions being taken at UVM include:
Eliminating 16 vacant staff positions across the University
Not filling 18 existing vacant tenure-track faculty positions and 4 new faculty positions
Notifying 16 staff employees that they will be laid off
Freezing FY 2010 salaries for non-unionized employees earning more than $75,000
Discontinuing two varsity sports, Men's Baseball and Women's Softball, effective at the end of the Spring, 2009 season
Implementing reductions in administrative areas totaling $8.3 million, ($7.3 million general fund; $1 million non-general fund)
Reducing general fund budgets in academic areas by $3.5 million
Eliminating physical therapy services through the Center for Health and Wellbeing
Increasing financial aid by $3 million above earlier planned expenditure for next year to support students and families, bringing additional investment next year to $10 million (Total UVM investment in financial aid: $62 million).
Increasing by 5 percent the overall student/faculty ratio, from 15.2-to-1 to about 16-to-1, an increase that has long been an element of UVM's strategic plan.
The announced cuts represent the first step of a two-stage process in which further reductions are possible once more specific information regarding revenue sources is available later in the spring. Another 26 staff who may be laid off if the second phase of budget reductions becomes necessary are also being notified now of their status in order to allow them to explore other employment options. UVM's original budget projections, developed in December, anticipated further cuts of $4.2 million for FY 2010 and $6 million for FY 2011. Those projections are subject to change pending new information as it becomes available.
In addition to the actual and possible layoffs announced today, the University expects that some lecturers (i.e., instructors not on the tenure-track) will not be offered new contracts after their current contracts expire. Such actions occur annually in response to changing departmental needs. We anticipate the numbers of lecturers affected to be larger than usual as we move ahead to reach University's target student-faculty ratio. It is currently expected that approximately 12 full-time lecturers will not be offered new contracts, along with a significantly higher number of part-time lecturers who teach one or more courses each year. The final outcome will not be known until sometime over the summer when fall enrollment and specific teaching needs are resolved.
In describing the cuts, UVM President Daniel Mark Fogel noted that, "We are implementing a plan to make necessary adjustments to challenging but manageable circumstances. I am satisfied that we have met our goals of preserving and enhancing academic value, with emphasis on high quality and diverse enrollment, on the quality of the student experience, and on faculty research, scholarship, and creative activity, but I recognize and deeply appreciate that this is not easy for anyone, especially those most directly affected. I care deeply about those whose jobs are being eliminated, and we will work closely with them to explore alternatives and to assist in whatever ways we can."
Faculty and staff covered by collective bargaining agreements will be given notice and severance benefits prescribed by their contracts. Those not covered by these agreements will be granted severance benefits, including continuation of tuition remission for currently enrolled staff and dependents, which will be described to them in more detail.
"We will provide all services we can within available resources and contractual obligations to individuals who are facing the immediate or possible impending loss of employment," Fogel said. In the case of student-athletes involved in Baseball and Softball, the Athletics Department is working closely with them to help them understand their options, either at UVM or at other institutions. All existing scholarship obligations to these students will be honored.
"It goes without saying that this is a time of stress and uncertainty, and while the future is hard to predict, we will be doing all we can to make decisions based on the most accurate and timely information possible. We will share pertinent information with the UVM community as soon as it is available and prioritize transitional assistance to persons who lose their positions," Fogel concluded. "Although these are very challenging times, I am confident that our academic quality will remain strong at UVM. It is clear that all of higher education is facing similar issues, even the wealthiest private institutions, but I am convinced that this remarkable and resilient institution will emerge from the downturn earlier and stronger than the vast majority of colleges and universities."