Across North Carolina, state agencies are grappling with budget cuts, and Gov. Beverly Perdue has asked them to prepare for reductions of up to nine percent in next year's spending plans.
UNC system President Erskine Bowles wants to go in another direction. While the university system has been working on budget-cut scenarios of up to seven percent, Bowles now is asking state leaders to limit the university's damage to five percent.
And he doesn't want those cuts to be permanent, either. When the economy sours, public agencies generally start with one-time cuts, which basically just reduce spending for a single budget year. Permanent cuts require the elimination of programs and often bring about layoffs.
In a letter to members of the UNC system's governing board, Bowles writes this week than the university simply cannot withstand cuts greater than the five percent level, and they should only apply as long as the economic downturn does.
"I am sure that no members of the legislature would cut education to the extent they may have to if they did not face a severe economic crisis," Bowles writes. "Again, that is why I have suggested making the duration of the cuts match the length of the crisis - so that when the crisis ends, we will have the economic resources to spring forward and give our students the education they need to compete with the world's best and brightest, wherever they may be."
The UNC system has absorbed $175 million in cuts this year, Bowles writes. A 7 percent cut next year would prompt the elimination of 1,600 jobs across the 17-campus university system, 1,000 of which are currently filled. Translation: 1,000 layoffs.
The UNC system's board meets next week. You can click on the attachment below to read Bowles' entire, four-page letter.
Comments
I dont mind
Mon, 01/31/2011 - 09:39 — marwanlaunchI dont mind to be paid millions of dollrs as still there people paying
Yes. Starting to cut budget
Mon, 08/09/2010 - 06:59 — kidow32Yes. Starting to cut budget from the top management could help the reduction of expenses.
It sounds like Bowles has a
Fri, 07/17/2009 - 14:23 — Berry220It sounds like Bowles has a tough job ahead of him. Budget cuts are always tough, but hopefully he is right and they won't have to be permanent.
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UNC can easily cost cut by
Wed, 07/01/2009 - 09:58 — blog85475UNC can easily cost cut by reduceing unnesssary expense----------Denver Home Loans || home loans des moines
They can start the budget cut at the top
Sat, 06/27/2009 - 23:38 — PrudentPandaThey can start the budget cut at the top, at the faculty department heads. There shouldn't be that hard to reduce expenses by 5% so people don't have to get fired.
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Anointed One
Fri, 03/13/2009 - 21:38 — omegamanI guess the Anointed One believes the colleges to be an exception to the rule.
I'll support his request for 5 percent if he can get the ditches down here in Skitterland cleared out. That hasn't happened in 15 years. Oh yeah, while he's at it; maybe he can get the roads that run alongside the ditches repaved too. Been a long time since they been done properly.
Cut the @#$! budget!
Fri, 03/13/2009 - 14:35 — avg_joeBowles: Cut the @#$! budget. UNC schools have been burning through cash like it's going out of style. We the taxpayer should not have to pay for your out-of-control spending. Maybe the UNC should tighten its belt like everyone else in this country. This is not the time for new taxes. For starters, stop the out-of-control construction budgets on UNC campuses, and reign in out-of-control salaries.
Construction
Fri, 03/13/2009 - 14:40 — ThinkingMost of the new construction on campuses is being paid for with the higher education bond issue passed by voters in 2001.
UNC President Erskine Bowles
Thu, 04/16/2009 - 04:31 — richardmoodieUNC President Erskine Bowles is going to ask the legislature the assignment to increase the UNC System’s budget 11%. But Bowles has done something unusual. He’s backed his request by cutting what amounts to $440 million in other university spending. ( Advanced Coursework ) For example, he’s cut his own staff 10%. It’s hard to recall anyone else, anywhere else, in government doing that. ( computer assignment )
Funny that President Bowles
Fri, 03/13/2009 - 13:07 — WilmingtonDemocratFunny that President Bowles asks for smaller budget cuts on the same day Chancellor Thorp loads his family on the state private luxury jet for a weekend of festivities at the ACC tournament.
Hello?
UNC cuts
Fri, 03/13/2009 - 12:13 — igliigliWhile UNC President Bowles is asking for reduced cuts to academics, the UNC System is spending millions at the ACC Tournament. He should cancel all the UNC schools participation and use the money for academics. College sports, the biggest taxpayer and student rip-off around.
The UNC system doesn't fund
Fri, 03/13/2009 - 14:38 — ThinkingThe UNC system doesn't fund sports programs or the ACC tournament, yet you post this same nonsense day in and day out. Here's a link to the UNC system's 2008-2009 budget request. Find athletics in it.
http://intranet.northcarolina.edu/docs/finance/reports/FINAL_2008-09_Budget_Priorities.pdf
Here's a link to the 2008-2009 state education budget. No money for college sports.
http://www.osbm.state.nc.us/files/pdf_files/200809-BD307-Vol1.pdf
Funding Sports
Fri, 03/13/2009 - 14:53 — aftercanceri hate to break it to you but the State pays 3.7 million dollars in just men's basketball salaries, not to mention benefits. So while it might not be in the budget it comes out of the state coffers.
Bowles cuts give his request
Thu, 04/16/2009 - 04:36 — richardmoodieBowles cuts give his request for a budget increase credibility. He’s asking for more money, but he’s also saying he’s going to spend the money he has more wisely. Of course, he still has to work his way through the political labyrinth ( Buy Essay ) of the legislature and the politicians may maul his plans. But he’s started with a proposal that should have a little appeal to even the most tight-fisted Senators and Representatives. ( engineering assignment )
A state job is not
Fri, 03/13/2009 - 15:07 — ThinkingA state job is not necessarily funded through tax revenue. For example, a university position may be funded by endowment income, grants, or contracts. It's still a state job because it's a piece of a state agency and is subject to state HR regulations. The salary database doesn't make that distinction. You can't know for sure unless you get into the line items of the institutional budgets.