The University on Wednesday released budget cut projections for a $62 million reduction in state funding, which would potentially result in the loss of 350 faculty, 350 staff positions and the closure of buildings.
In all, the cuts would be equivalent to the elimination of seven of the University’s 14 colleges.
The cuts are not definite, and the projections are an exercise mandated by the Board of Regents to prepare for future budget cuts.
The latest projections elaborate on scenarios prepared this summer by the University, which initially prepared for a $46 million budget cut.
The summer plans outlined a three-level system dividing every University entity into three categories based on relevance to teaching and the academic core of the University.
Level Three consists of the academic core, and the initial projection removed $20,065,049. The latest projections cut $36,369,019 from the academic core.
Level Two consists of units that support the core — like student support activities and library services — and cuts in that level total $16,634,845.
Level One consists of units not directly related to the academic core — like Facility Services and Student Support Services — and cuts to this tier total $9,162,282.
If the scenario becomes reality, then 154,299 undergraduate credit hours and 31,506 graduate credit hours will be eliminated.
Chancellor Michael Martin said he doesn’t know the likelihood of the cuts materializing because the projections were created at request of the state.
“If it actually came to pass, it would be catastrophic,” Martin said. “The very conversations we’re having will do some harm because the conversation causes people to look for other jobs elsewhere.”
Among Wednesday’s predictions, the University did not specify what faculty and departments would suffer, but it did announce general material effects.
“Roughly 50 degrees will be lost, impacting approximately 8,000 students, almost one-third of degree programs,” according to reduction descriptions prepared by the Budget Crisis Committee. “Diversity in career opportunities will be severely limited; campus buildings will be closed.”
Martin said residence halls, dining halls, classrooms and labs would be closed because fewer faculty and students require fewer facilities. Martin did not mention any specific buildings.
The Level Three description also indicated revenue from grants, contracts and tuition will suffer from the cuts, and a reduction in the student population will have a “dramatic impact on the viability of auxiliary units such as athletics, residence halls and the Student Union.”
Martin said the budget cuts will have a cyclical effect, and the University hasn’t even looked into the future effects of losing so many faculty and students.
“How many hamburgers wouldn’t be sold, how many gas stations wouldn’t sell?” Martin asked. “Just start thinking about the multiplier effect of that number of jobs lost and the spending in the community. This will reverberate not just in this campus, but across the community and the state.”
Martin said the effects among degree programs will be severe. While some students will simply change their majors if their degrees are cut, many students will transfer or not come to the University, Martin said.
“No matter how you cut this, you’re going to be forcing upon the students an education of lesser value,” Martin said. “A university has to have a certain breadth, hence the term university and not ‘monoversity.’ It will not only be a much narrower institution, it will be a much more mediocre one.”
The University has already suffered a series of budget cuts in the past two years, and Martin said the additional cuts will set the University back four decades and make the recovery even harder.
These projections are simply an exercise. The University will begin getting a real picture of the situation when Gov. Bobby Jindal releases his preliminary budget early next year.
 
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Contact Catherine Threlkeld at [email protected]