With last week’s conclusion of the state legislative session, the grim budgetary future for Louisiana higher education leaves the LSU System with nothing to do but plan for the worst, according to System President John Lombardi.Lombardi sent a letter June 24 to the System’s chancellors instructing them to begin creating budget reduction plans to account for the projected budget decrease for the 2011-2012 fiscal year.Louisiana higher education is expected to face a $300 million funding reduction for that year, $133 million of which will be absorbed by the LSU System, said Charles Zewe, LSU System spokesperson.
“It’s the most dire financial situation, to our knowledge, the LSU System has ever faced in its history,” Zewe said.
The $300 million cut is what the state legislature anticipates will be necessary if state revenues don’t pick up and if federal stimulus dollars aren’t extended when they expire on July 1, 2011, Zewe said.
If these cuts do come to fruition and the LSU System is forced to reduce its budget by $133 million, each institution in the System will have 23.28 percent less money for its general fund in 2011-12 than in 2010-11, according to documents included with Lombardi’s letter.In addition to these cuts that would take effect in July 2011, Zewe said more cuts could be made in the middle of the current fiscal year unless the state’s revenue increases, which analysts do not expect.Zewe said though the planned cuts for 2011-12 are not yet set in stone, but the System must begin planning now in order to be prepared when they do become final.”We all hope that somehow there is a new federal stimulus or the revenues come back or these draconian cuts are avoided,” he said. “But we can’t take that chance, so we have to start planning.”With the anticipated budget figures in mind, Lombardi said in the letter that future tuition increases will not sufficiently make up for the losses, so the System must begin planning for substantial changes.
“The scale of reductions anticipated will almost certainly require the elimination of vital programs, the dismissal of employees including faculty, and significant disruption of student academic careers,” Lombardi wrote.Early planning for cuts is necessary because many University contracts and appointment agreements require a year’s notice before termination.”We will need to issue dismissal notices early in the 2010-11 fiscal year if we are to close programs and terminate activities in 2011-12,” Lombardi said in the letter.Zewe said he anticipates notices of possible termination will be issued within the next few weeks, but each campus will determine when and how many notices are issued.Tentative reduction plans will be presented to the Board of Supervisors at its July 16 meeting.Lombardi outlined three levels of analysis for cuts, each containing different types of programs.The first level includes “activities or units not directly related to the core priorities of the institution,” and can consist of programs like museums, sports activities and community service that don’t “directly sustain teaching and research.”The second level is comprised of “units whose activities support teaching and research but are not directly engaged in delivering the core functions.” These units would be things like student support activities, library services and computing services.The third and most destructive level includes core programs that impact teaching and research. Reductions in this level could result in “dismissal of tenure track and tenured faculty, staff and other support personnel, and the disruption of student educational programs.”The Board of Supervisors will hear presentations and is likely to make recommendations for adjustments before approving the cuts at a later meeting, Zewe said.Lombardi instructed chancellors to focus their presentation on the effects cuts will have on various factors, including how long it will take certain programs to be revived should sufficient funds be available in the future.The letter defines reductions as “truly permanent” if restoration of the program or unit would take 10 or more years to restore.Faculty Senate president Kevin Cope said rebuilding programs in the future will create an additional weight on the System’s shoulders if and when budget cuts become a thing of the past.
“If we ever get enough money to rebuild them again, there are rebuilding costs on top of the programs themselves,” Cope said.For students, Zewe said the budget cuts will mean higher tuition and fees, fewer programs offered at various institutions and, in some cases, a harder time graduating in four years.For faculty, the threat of job loss will cause concern, likely leading faculty to begin searching for other jobs, Cope said.”This is not an optimistic signal that the state government is sending to the faculty, and it would be unfair for me to create a falsely optimistic picture of the future,” he said.Zewe said the best thing for students, faculty and staff members to do now is talk to anyone who will listen about the plight facing the University and all state higher education institutions.”It’s not just a matter of brow-beating politicians or brow-beating people in the legislature or anywhere in the government,” Zewe said. 
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Contact Ryan Buxton at [email protected]