The possibility of a 15 percent budget cut in the 2011-12 fiscal year has chancellors in the 17-member UNC system scrambling for ways to slash expenses.
Administrators won't know for at least several weeks how much they will be asked to trim from next year's budget, but they expect it will be steep, as the state looks for ways to cover an expected budget shortfall of $3.7 billion.
Leaders with the UNC system asked chancellors late last year to contemplate what a 15 percent budget cut would look like at their schools. Earlier, they had been asked to prepare budget scenarios for 5 percent and 10 percent budget cuts, said Joni Worthington, a spokeswoman for the UNC system.
Talk of the budget cuts dominated conversations among UNC leaders at committee meetings in Chapel Hill on Thursday, said John W. Davis, a Winston-Salem resident who sits on the board of governors.
The governors will gather today for their first official meeting with Tom Ross, the new system president.
"The president, general administration, the chancellors and the board of governors are all focused on how to accommodate potential cuts and, at the same time, do the least amount of damage to the quality of instruction," Davis wrote in an e-mail.
The expected deep cuts will come on the heels of two previous budget cuts for the current fiscal year: a 1 percent cut announced in August and a 2.5 percent cut mandated in December.
For Winston-Salem State University, that 3.5 percent reduction amounts to $2.4 million. The state gave WSSU $68.5 million for this year's budget.
Chancellor Donald Reaves broke the news of the 2011-12 budget problems to faculty, staff and students at Winston-Salem State University in a memo Monday.
Proposals include a hiring freeze on noncritical vacant positions, reducing the number of temporary staff members and examining closely faculty workloads and the use of adjunct faculty.
The university plans to substantially restrict all purchasing, travel, training and salary adjustments.
"For planning purposes, you should anticipate that it will be virtually impossible to spend money for these activities in the foreseeable future," Reaves said in a statement.
There are no plans for furloughs and pay cuts, but they could be considered in the future if needed.
Major construction projects at the university are expected to continue. The Center for Design Innovation and the Student Activities Center should be under construction this year.
Reaves will hold an all-campus meeting at 3 p.m. today in the K.R. Williams Auditorium at WSSU.
John Mauceri, the chancellor at UNC School of the Arts, also addressed the budget cuts in a memo to faculty and staff. In anticipation of cuts this year, the school held back an additional 2 percent of its budget. Mauceri said the remaining half-percent will be taken from administrative budgets.
The school received $28.9 million for the current fiscal year, which ends June 30. Mauceri was in Chapel Hill at the committee meetings Thursday and could not be reached for comment.
A 15 percent budget cut could have dire consequences for the film school. In November, Mauceri said a 10 percent cut could mean shutting it down. School spokeswoman Marla Carpenter said administrators have discussed a 15 percent budget cut but haven't presented any plans.
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