Preparing for budget cuts

Carl Carlucci warned USF?s Board of Trustee members at a meeting Friday. The vice president for Budgets, Human Resources and Information Technology said that some programs at USF need to consider that they may receive less money next year with a 5 percent reduction in the budget.

Carlucci said decisions on how this will affect programs cannot be made until the budget plan for the next fiscal year is submitted at the end of this month. Plans to consider program spending will begin right away because it is a six- to 12-month process, he said.

?The budget reduction for next year will cause us to look at programs,? Carlucci said. ?And a program reduction involves people.?

Carlucci also warned the trustees that it is possible that USF may not receive money from the budget at the end of April as it normally does.

?In the past, the money has been given back, but not this time,? Carlucci said. ?We are planning as if it is not going to happen.?

Carlucci said the reduced general revenue estimated for this year is $265 million.

He said Gov. Jeb Bush will call for a session to discuss and deal with the budget adjustment.

Paula Fussell, associate vice president for budget policy analysis, said during the years, the state has decreased the money the university received. This year, 1 percent is being held back each quarter from the university?s budget expenditures.

Fussell said the special session to discuss the budget will be held sometime before the regular session that is held in January.

Trustee Richard Beard said the university needs to make sure it is operating profitably and being market driven.

?We need to make up the difference and enhance the university,? Beard said.

?We need to get an appropriate number of funding from the state for the number of students.?

Beard said USF needs to receive the same amount of funding as the University of Florida and Florida State University. Right now he said USF receives $200 less per student in the budget than UF.

?We need to get an equal amount as other universities,? Beard said. ?If we take a cut then they do too.?

President Judy Genshaft said to get funding, the university has to prove it can raise its enrollment.

?It is important to show the state the university is moving ahead,? she said.

USF has a total enrollment of 37,308 students, the highest in its history. The university also has its most diverse student body ever, Genshaft said.

?We plan to put the trustees together to work so our voices can be heard,? Genshaft said.

She said they need to show the legislature that they have not received proper funding.

Contact Grace Agostinat oraclegrace@yahoo.com