IU begins second round of campus budget cuts

Indiana is serious on budget cuts. Now, so is IU.

IU has achieved $29.3 million in base budget cuts, but still must find another $58.9 million to cut in order to meet the requirement of the mandated state funding reduction, according to a Jan. 6 IU press release.

Ind. Gov. Mitch Daniels ordered another $58.9 million cut in state funding for IU as part of a $150 million reduction shared by all of the state’s public universities.

The Indiana General Assembly passed the state budget last year that reduced base state funding for IU by $29.3 million during the 2009-11 biennium, which forced IU to downsize its operating budget.

Each IU campus was asked to put together a plan with the steps it will take to absorb its share of the cuts during the next 18 months. The plans will be completed by the end of January, reviewed by IU Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Neil Theobald and IU President Michael McRobbie, and then publicly announced by early February, according to the release.

Theobald said in the release that IU’s operating budget base has been reduced by $22.3 million through cuts in travel spending and resignation of non-faculty employees, and the remaining $7 million will be from several areas.

This includes creating one University-wide purchasing office, changing the formula for calculating overtime pay for non-exempt staff and requiring sponsored research grants to fully cover retirement costs for grant-funded faculty and professional staff as well as requiring new hires to meet a five-year vesting requirement to retain employer contributions to the IU retirement plan.

IU announced in December it reduced operational costs by $177 million as a part of an ongoing University-wide cost-containment effort, meeting the 6 percent cut in higher education announced by Daniels.

McRobbie said in the release that the cost-reduction achieved so far has “no harmful impact on the quality of academic and research programs on any campus.”

Even for campuses whose operating budgets come from both IU and Purdue University, the situation is not that optimistic.

IU–Purdue University Indianapolis has been working all year on effectively managing in response to the state’s budget situation. IUPUI Chancellor Charles Bantz said though this has been very difficult, the budget for a base reduction of $10.6 million this academic year has been met.

He said in an e-mail the reductions will be made by not replacing personnel that leave, making significant reductions in travel expenses and looking for reductions that are appropriate in each school, college or division.

Michael Wartell, chancellor of IU-Purdue University Fort Wayne, said IPFW has been very conservative on their budget.

“The budget cuts are mainly affecting our decisions on projects that rely on recurring budget,” Wartell said.

He added IPFW will need to consider tailoring their staffers and better managing their hiring process.

“President McRobbie has repeatedly stressed he will try to make all these cuts without having any negative impact on the University’s primary missions of teaching and research,” IU spokesman Larry McIntyre said.  “Thus, they are likely to have a greater impact on staff and support services, as opposed to faculty.”

The University said it is trying to make budget cuts efficiently and eliminate their effect on the quality of educational resources.

“Although some of the spending reductions we put in place may bring short-term pain,” McRobbie said in the release, “the efficiencies and improvements we are making will bring long-term positive impacts to the University.”