Budget Updates > Letter to the Campus Community, July 8, 2008
Dear Colleagues,
On Wednesday, more than 500 of you, along with more than 130 who were viewing via the Web, joined me for a town hall meeting in the grand ballroom of the Joe Crowley Student Union to discuss the University’s latest round of budget reduction measures.
Before I recap what occurred, I want to take a moment to tell all of you how proud I am of our campus. We are facing difficult and trying times, times that in many ways impact the very fabric of what we do. Yet, even in the face of this challenge, I heard last week from so many of you that you are concerned, you have ideas to help, and that you have the best interest of the institution in your hearts. I wish to commend all of the campus community for its responsiveness, its collegiality and its respect and concern for others in this challenging time.
At the end of June, the University issued notices of non-reappointment (NNR’s) effective July 1, 2009, to 36 members of our campus community, in addition to a similar number of previously issued NNR’s issued for other reasons. I wish to express my concern for these colleagues of ours, as well to those who had to make difficult choices. For those who received an NNR, please know that I sincerely appreciate your service to our University, and that our immediate focus will be on placement of staff who have received NNR’s, either inside or outside the University.
It is important to remember that the issuance of NNR’s was only part of the University’s response to the state’s budget reduction request. The cuts that are to come will encroach on our academic programs and will alter the trajectory of our University, at least for the foreseeable future. There have been only hard cuts, and no easy cuts, and as we continue this process, with the state requesting as much as 14 percent for budget cuts for Fiscal Year 2009-2010, the process will get even harder. I continue to hope and believe that as the consequences of reductions of this magnitude to education and human services become clear, the state’s leaders will find ways to alleviate these reductions. The state needs more education, not less.
Nothing is certain at this point, but we need to plan now in order to protect our core programs and ensure the viability of our teaching and research enterprise. As I said on Wednesday, this is also a time of cognitive dissonance – even with cuts that could reach 14 percent, we must remind ourselves that we have a cup that is 86 percent full and that we need to maximize what we have. Our commitment is that our students will have degree programs available to them that are a suitable match for their educational and career goals.
Even in the face of these difficult cuts, we must and will remain an economic force in the region. We will still work to produce cutting-edge research and participate in creative endeavors. We will still work to produce the educated workforce that our state so desperately needs if it is to diversify its economy and fortify itself against any further economic downturns.
What is most important is that we insist on being masters of our own fate. We can best prioritize through open consultation. I will and we must continue to advocate to the Regents and to the state for three items: revenue, empowerment and accountability. We are a unique enterprise and I believe emphatically that no one better understands our strengths, weaknesses and aspirations for the future than we do.
Our next phase in our budget reductions will occur over the next six weeks. We will begin the process of assessing the institution’s programs. Provost Marc Johnson will work with the Academic Leadership Council (which includes deans, Faculty Senate Chair, Vice Provosts and other senior leaders) in deciding which academic programs will be examined.
Several possibilities will be explored, including securing alternative funding sources, downsizing, and program phase-out. Then, the University’s administration will work with Faculty Senate Chair William Follette and the Faculty Senate on a process for review.
In general, our criteria will be: centrality to mission, quality, state needs and access and cost-effectiveness. As a further yardstick, we will work to maximize the availability of programs for students and maintain the value of a Nevada degree.
In addition to these steps, the University has announced that a voluntary buyout plan will be offered to longtime employees. We will also continue the institution’s strategic hiring freeze, travel reduction, energy conservation measures and other cost-cutting options.
I have received many constructive emails with ideas we will be following up on. Thanks to all of you who have written me. I welcome your further thoughts at glick@unr.edu
As I said at the beginning, the University faces trying times. We have a series of hard choices facing us, choices that will get even harder in the days to come. Yet, I truly do believe that credit in this challenging time belongs to all of you at our University. You have shown great devotion to the work of our University, its principles and its mission. Every effort will be made in the coming weeks to honor your faith in what we do, to uphold our guiding principles of shared governance and to protect the mission of our campus on the hill.
Thank you for your continued support and collegiality.
Sincerely,
Milton D. Glick
President, University of Nevada, Reno