Cutting programs is budgetary last resort

Last week, President John Hitt and I announced that, in response to state-mandated budget cuts, UCF will recommend limited academic program eliminations to the university's Board of Trustees.

The recommendations call for eliminating five programs, which will affect 51 faculty and staff members and nearly 1,100 students who are enrolled in the programs.

Our faculty and staff members make outstanding contributions to our university, and program eliminations are not a reflection on their work. However, the reality is that the university has gone as far as it can in managing budget cuts without eliminating programs.

Since July 1, 2007, $77 million in recurring funds have been cut from the university's budget, including the recently-announced $38 million cut to UCF's 2009-10 fiscal year budget.

We are at the point where most students and faculty and staff members are best served through limited program eliminations, rather than through additional across-the-board cuts to all programs. These actions will help us support the many strong programs UCF offers our students.

Please visit UCF's Budget Resource Center Web site at www.ucf.edu/budget for more detailed information about the budget, for answers to frequently asked questions and to provide feedback.

I wish the magnitude of the cuts did not force us to consider these actions, but these focused cuts are in the best interests of the entire university. The programs will be phased out over the next two years and will save UCF about $6.1 million annually.

UCF is also implementing a 3.1 percent, $3.7 million, cut to the university's administrative budget, which is the same percentage cut that the program eliminations represent to UCF's academic budget. Each administrative vice president will determine how best to address this budget cut, but the cut must be made.

Pending approval from the Board of Trustees, official layoff notices will be issued after the board's July meeting. All affected faculty and staff members will receive two semesters' notice of layoff, meaning they will remain employed through the end of the spring 2010 semester.

We will do everything we can to assist the two percent of UCF students who are enrolled in the affected programs of study. Colleges and departments are developing "teach out" plans to ensure that courses and faculty are available to accommodate students in the affected programs through the end of the 2011 spring semester.

Courses offered for the fall 2009 semester will not be changed. However, I urge undergraduate students to meet with their college's academic advisors and graduate students to make appointments with their program directors.

Finally, I want to make clear that the proposed program eliminations are an option of last resort — but an option that has become necessary. The fact that we have been proactive in dealing with budget cuts the past two years has allowed us to avoid this action until now.

As we move forward, our goal for managing budget cuts will remain the same: to preserve the university's core educational and research programs that will allow UCF to emerge from the economic downturn in the best position possible.