Despite an increase in the overall state operating budget and the University’s total operating budget, the University will still incur a limited number of cuts, according to Chancellor Michael Martin. The state’s willingness to fund education did not increase. The Louisiana Legislature provided $132.46 million in state appropriations to fund higher education for the 2013 fiscal year, according to a July 18 letter from Interim President Bill Jenkins to the Board of Supervisors. The appropriation is a decrease of $19.9 million, or 13.1 percent, from the 2012 fiscal year. The LSU System often uses the 2008-2009 academic year as a benchmark for state appropriations. The 2008-2009 year represents the highest state appropriations to the University in recent memory at $234.6 million, according to Bob Kuhn, associate vice chancellor for Budget and Planning. Gov. Bobby Jindal also took office in 2008. Since that time, state appropriations have decreased by 43.6 percent. The University’s total operating budget increased $4.1 million from last year, totaling $445.3 million, Kuhn said. Sixty-five percent of the budget is self-generated revenue. In a broadcast e-mail sent to University faculty and staff Friday afternoon, Martin outlined the cuts for the 2013 fiscal year, despite seeing an increase in the operating budget. “Reductions to academic units will be limited to less than $2 million,” he said in the email. “The School of Veterinary Medicine will have a reduction because it operates as a responsibility-centered managed unit, while the Colleges of Engineering and Human Sciences & Education will experience savings resulting from certain departmental mergers and combinations. Facility Services and Information Technology Services will incur a cut of more than $2 million. The University will not experience any across-the-board cuts or layoffs.” Some entities are doing more than others to lessen the effect of the cuts. The Department of Athletics will contribute $5.5 million to help balance the budget. Of that amount, $4 million will be used “to protect the academic core,” and the other $1.5 million will help fund the Cox Academic Center for Student Athletes, according to Vice Chancellor and Director of Athletics Joe Alleva. “It is important for Athletics to play a role in the central mission of a university, and LSU Athletics is in the unique position to provide this financial support in a time of budgetary need,” Alleva said. ”Only a handful of athletic departments in the nation operate using no state tax dollars and no student fees, but to be able to make a contribution of this magnitude is unique and a real credit to LSU’s fans and alumni who support the Tigers and to the coaches and student-athletes whose commitment to excellence translates into continued success.” But, with the first month of fiscal year 2013 complete, the University is operating on an unofficial budget. The proposed draft will be submitted to the Board of Supervisors at its Sept. 7 meeting for final approval. However, all forms and materials related to the University’s budget must be submitted to the system office by Aug. 17. The University submitted its budget materials Friday, according to Kuhn. James Richardson, director of the University’s Public Administration Institute, said the delay in making the budget official is not unusual in the academic sector, but puts a strain on how much the University can spend until the budget is made official. “Although we have a fiscal year, we really operate based on the school schedule,” Richardson said. “The budget tells institutions how much they can spend in a year. So if the University spends some money in July, we have to say ‘Ok, we only have so much to spend for the rest of the year.'”
 
____ Contact Joshua Bergeron at [email protected]