Budget submission pending

USF will plan for more state-mandated budget cuts over the spring semester.

Gov. Charlie Crist has asked Florida state agencies for a 2009-2010 school year budget proposal that is 10 percent less than that for 2008-2009.

However, USF will not submit a budget proposal immediately, Provost Ralph Wilcox said.

A special session of the Florida State Legislature will be held sometime in December or January to address the budget, Wilcox said. The Legislature will have to approve the University’s budget before a proposal can be submitted.

“The session will determine what sort of reduction higher education will receive — specifically what we’re going to have to cut from our budget,” Wilcox said.

He said USF does not have to submit its budget directly to Crist’s office. The Board of Governors, the governing body of the State University System, will receive USF’s budget reduction plan.

However, the budget request will come only after the special session, during which a balanced budget will be voted on by the state Legislature, he said.

“They will set the timeline and we will be ready to respond when the time comes,” Wilcox said.