Inside Iowa State: Iowa State University

INSIDE IOWA STATE
February 15, 2002

Task force begins review of budget-cutting proposals

Iowa State's top administrators have submitted plans for cutting $16.5 million from the university's operating budget for the year that will begin July 1. Plans from the three vice presidents, the provost and the president would cut 4 percent from the budget -- the amount leaders think will be needed to cover deappropriations this year and anticipated reductions in state funding for FY03. Collectively, the plans propose eliminating the full-time equivalent (FTE) of 89.5 currently filled positions and another 63.3 FTE of currently vacant positions. Here's the breakdown on the filled positions being eliminated:

Layoffs due to position eliminations: 38.1 FTE
Positions eliminated following planned retirements: 16.9 FTE
Graduate assistantships eliminated: 34.5 FTE

Administrators propose that another 4.7 FTE positions would be cut back but not eliminated. Finally, funding for 71.6 FTE positions would move from reliance on state funding to other sources, including grants, contracts and user fee support. These employees would not lose their positions. Salary and benefits savings from eliminated, reduced or funding-shifted positions account for about $11.3 million of the total proposed savings.

As proposed, the other piece of the savings would result from dozens and dozens of cuts to supply budgets, services and programs, for example, mandating further "paperless" business processes (a savings of almost $88,000), closing the Office of External Affairs, eliminating undergraduate programs with low enrollments, cutting elective courses and class sections for other courses, ending a toll-free phone line in enrollment services ($12,000) and consolidating the administration of two academic departments.
What's next
The plans remain proposals at this point. The President's Task Force on Strategic Effectiveness and Budget Priorities will review them this month and make recommendations to President Gregory Geoffroy by March 1. Geoffroy is not expected to announce final reduction plans until the end of the Legislative session, when the actual budget reduction figure is clear.