University Budget Committee reacts to budget reductions

Eureka Reporter 4/20/07

By Courtney Hunt-Munther

A day after Humboldt State University President Rollin Richmond announced his final decisions regarding the school’s 2007-08 budget, members of the University Budget Committee expressed mixed reactions to the reductions made during the committee’s regularly scheduled meeting Friday afternoon.

Slightly more than half the committee members were present for the meeting, which followed Thursday’s formal announcement that budget cuts to the tune of nearly $3 million will be made over a three-year span to cover a deficit several years in the making.

Earlier this year, the UBC was asked to prepare a recommendation to submit to Richmond in March, and on Friday, committee members seemed divided as to whether or not the president’s decisions reflect their efforts to balance the budget.

Colleen Mullery, designee for the Academic Affairs vice president, believes the reductions to be “real changes that will continue into the foreseeable future” and added that HSU has “made progress on this campus to begin to live within our budget.”

Glenn Sonntag, who serves as the designee for the Associated Students president, disagreed with Mullery, arguing that no structural changes to the way the university operates have been made.

“This is another Band-Aid,” Sonntag said. “We’re cutting money, expenses are going up and we’re still not addressing the structural problems that brought about this situation. … The president seems to think (everything) is OK, but … we’re not fixing anything.”

Faculty representative Michael Thomas agreed with Sonntag and expressed his belief that Richmond ignored the budget committee’s recommendations in deciding where to make reductions on campus.

“I think that the budget cuts happened independently of (the budget committee’s) recommendation,” Thomas said.

Carol Terry, associate vice president for Business Services, countered Thomas’ perspective that Richmond disregarded the UBC’s recommendations, saying, “This was not engineered. The president implemented many similar suggestions to what this committee recommended.”

Others, however, were just happy to see some of their suggestions carried out.

“I’m really glad the reductions will be spread out over three years. I just can’t express how glad I am for that,” said Academic Finance Committee Chairperson Mark Larson.

Previously, Larson had proposed the possibility of stretching the reductions over a period of years, but the suggestion was voted down by other committee members.

The university’s budget situation was brought to light in the beginning of the 2006-07 school year after HSU failed to meet enrollment expectations set forth by the California State University chancellor. As a result, the Chancellor’s Office asked HSU to return funding granted in advance based on enrollment projections.

Despite enrolling the biggest freshman class in school history last fall and expectations of having an even larger first-year class next fall, Richmond said the bulk of the school’s difficulties result from serious enrollment issues — in particular, student retention and not having enough full-time equivalent students, or students enrolled in at least 15 credit hours.

Other factors, such as escalating utilities, insurance, technology and salary and benefits costs, have also made a significant dent in the university’s budget deficit, which he addressed in a letter sent to the campus community on Thursday.

Richmond provided no specifics as to where the cuts will be made, but HSU Public Information Officer Paul Mann said he expects those details to be available within 30 to 60 days.