Grim budget cuts are expected to continue next year as the University anticipates a 23 percent cut — equivalent to $46 million.
The LSU System Board of Supervisors requested the University prepare a plan outlining where the cuts would come from and how much would come from each department.A broadcast email from Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor John Hamilton divided every campus unit into one of three levels.”Level Three units are those that deliver the core functions of teaching and research. Level Two units are those that directly support teaching and research but are not actively engaged in delivering those core functions. Level One units are those that are indirectly related to the core functions of teaching and research,” Hamilton said in the email.Level One reductions will amount to $9,162,282, Level Two reductions to $16,634,845 and Level Three reductions to $20,065,049.The University formed a Budget Crisis Committee headed by Hamilton to create the levels and notify deans and vice chancellors of reductions of eliminations in their department. The committee includes seven administrators and three faculty members.
Although no cuts have been imposed, the Budget Crisis Committee’s plan is in place for when reductions do occur.
Among the planned cuts, whole programs would be eliminated, at least 239 non-faculty members would be laid off and research would face significant shortfalls.
Several programs that face elimination of state funding include Communication Across the Curriculum, Center for Community Engagement, Learning and Leadership, the Delta Magazine, Journal of Macroeconomics, the Debate Team, Museum of Art Education Programs and the Center for Advanced Microstructures and Devices.
CAMD is the largest experimental research facility at the University. More than one-third of the University’s patents were developed by CAMD users, and 84 faculty were recruited through CAMD.Budget cuts would also eliminate the Louisiana Geological Survey, which would make Louisiana the only state without a geological survey office. Vital oil and gas development logs critical to the industry would no longer be available.In Level One reductions, $2,150,000 will be cut from Custodial and Landscape Services, resulting in 88 lost staff positions. According to the reduction spreadsheets, “cuts to facility services will have a tangible impact on the cleaning, upkeep and maintenance of the campus grounds, classrooms and buildings.””Restrooms will fall into disrepair,” the spreadsheet said. “The arborist crew, which cares for the trees campus-wide including more than 1,200 live oaks valued at approximately $50 million, will be eliminated. Efforts will be restricted to mowing and trimming the core of the campus only.”The detailed budget reductions plan will be presented to the Board of Supervisors at its July 16 meeting.
“The complexity of a Flagship University magnifies the potential for unintended consequences, and LSU and the state it serves will have to live with the consequences of these decisions for decades to come,” said a letter from Chancellor Michael Martin to LSU System President John Lombardi.”As it is — with the $42 million in cuts that have already been made, the Flagship University’s budget is not at the same level as in 2001-2002 — and even further back if one considers those budget numbers in real terms,” Martin’s letter said.
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Contact Cathrine Threlkeld at [email protected]