Guest Speakers at Academic Senate Paint Grim Fiscal Picture for Campus

Paul K. Mueller | November 2, 2009

In his first session as chair of UCSD’s Academic Senate, William Hogdkiss opened Tuesday’s meeting by acknowledging that he and his colleagues likely faced a “difficult year.” The assembly’s three guest speakers then supported that characterization.

Gary Matthews, vice chancellor for resource management and planning, presented an update on the budget realities facing the campus in 2010-11, and the news wasn’t cheerful.

While a one-time offset of federal stimulus funding helped ease the fiscal pain in 2009-10 – resulting in a net state reduction of “only” $176 million for the UC system – no such offset will cushion the shortfall for the following year. The two-year cumulative reduction for the system, Matthews estimated, would be more than $813 million.

UCSD’s “share” of that shortfall, he said, would be more than $87 million. Fee increases might decrease that amount by some $40 million, but with the state unlikely to reinstate a supposedly one-time reduction of $305 million to UC, the university faces a probable shortfall of nearly $36 million in 2010-11.

Campus budget committee members – the senior vice chancellor, six vice chancellors, five Academic Senate members, two students and a staff representative – are working on how best to respond, Matthews said. Several principles guide their planning:

• Ensuring minimal impact on classroom, research and academic lab instruction.
• Maintaining world-class research programs.
• Continuing diversity efforts, including California schools outreach.
• Keeping employees a priority.
• Seeking and implementing administrative efficiencies.

In addition, he said, campus “tiger teams” are focused on finding savings or boosting income in campus IT services; auxiliaries and self-supporting enterprises; and non-resident enrollment.

Paul Drake, senior vice chancellor for academic affairs, then described how the campus has been implementing the salary reduction and furlough plan and the furlough-exchange program. The advice and counsel of UCSD’s Academic Senate helped persuade UC President Yudof to use furloughs – rather than heavy pay cuts – to address budget shortfalls, Drake said. “We listened to the faculty,” he said, “and we made a bad plan better.”

He also gave Chancellor Marye Anne Fox credit for leading an effort by the 10 UC chancellors that convinced UCOP to let campuses keep more of the overhead from federal-stimulus funds. Fox successfully argued that campuses need the extra money to support the onerous paperwork associated with stimulus grants.

Next, Ron Espiritu, assistant vice chancellor of health sciences, explained how that area is implementing – or, because of numerous patient-care and other exemptions, not implementing – the salary reduction and furlough plan.

Altogether, the guest speakers justified Hodgkiss’ use of the word “difficult” to describe the coming year. The chair invited members of the faculty to contribute their ideas and suggestions about the budget and other issues to UC’s Commission on the Future.

In formal business, the senate accepted the annual report of the Committee on Research and its various subcommittees; elected two members to the UC Senate Council; and approved amendments to bylaws of Thurgood Marshall College that will allow student representation on the College Executive Committee and the College Curriculum Committee.