By Johnna Pinholster
VALDOSTA — Valdosta State University did not wait for official announcement of an eight percent budget cut from the University System of Georgia to begin trimming its budget.
Earlier in the year, when the University System of Georgia informed the system’s 35 public colleges and universities to plan for a four, six or eight percent cut, VSU began working with an eight percent reduction, Dr. Patrick Schloss, president, said.
“This summer’s budget planning effort had us launch the year preparing for an eight percent reduction,” Schloss said. “Because we thought it would get to this, we planned for it.”
The eight percent reduction in this fiscal year will take $176 million from the University System of Georgia’s operating budget and remove around $4 million from VSU’s 2010 budget.
The Board of Regent’s accepted VSU’s eight percent reduction back in August.
To compensate for the more than $4 million cut, the university has frozen more than 100 positions that have not been filled, placed a firm restriction on travel, eliminated off-campus contracting with consultants and required six furlough days for every employee making at or above $23,660, he said.
The university has also increased class sizes in select undergraduate classes to compensate for the ever-increasing enrollment at VSU, Schloss said.
Administrative operations across campus have been consolidated to eliminate areas that may overlap, he said.
Layoffs, Schloss said,
are not in the plan.
“Layoffs are not in the cards, will not be, cannot be in the cards,” he said.
“We have moved people from one area to another, but no one has lost standing.”
Schloss doesn’t anticipate this being the last of the budget reductions for this fiscal year.
“So far we’ve received good guidance, but depressing guidance, and the guidance right now is the bottom does not appear to be immediately in sight,” Schloss said.
The university is working towards having flexibility to reduce the budget by 10 percent, if needed, this year, he said.
In the spring, students will be further impacted by slowed tax revenues, as they will have to pay a new University System of Georgia-mandated $200 student fee.
The new student fee increases will remain in place until June 30, 2012, with a moratorium placed on student fees in fiscal year 2011.
“It’s very problematic that the furloughs hurt those that are most important to our mission and our students are our customers, so it’s very problematic that they should be hit by an additional fee that they certainly hadn’t budgeted for or prepared for,” Schloss said. “However, the budget circumstances clearly dictate that it be essential to maintain quality.”
