By Mark Wilson, Evansville Courier & Press
University of Southern Indiana officials found out Tuesday that not only will they be losing nearly $4 million in funding in the next 18 months, but that $1 million of that will come directly from its general fund.
The cuts amount to about 4.7 percent of USI's budget for that period, said Cynthia Brinker, USI's vice president of government and university relations, and were recommended by the Indiana Commission for Higher Education.
They are part of a $150 million cut in state higher education spending over the remaining 18 months of the state's two-year budget cycle ordered by Gov. Mitch Daniels because tax revenues are below previous projections.
State tax collections for the first five months of this fiscal year already are $475 million off the forecast lawmakers used to plan the current budget. It's now predicted the state will take in $1.8 billion less through July 2011 than previously projected.
It will be up to the individual universities to decide how to absorb the funding cuts, Brinker said.
The cuts amount to $1.3 million for the current 2009/10 academic year and $2.5 million in the 2010/11 academic year, she said, including the $1 million from USI's general fund.
"The interesting thing about it is that the funds were the (federal) stimulus dollars used to make up the difference in appropriation levels," Brinker said.
Earlier this year the Indiana General Assembly's budget bill used stimulus money to offset cuts in state funding - in USI's case about 3.3 percent of its budget.
However, Brinker said that USI, Ball State and Ivy Tech officials found out Tuesday that because they didn't receive enough stimulus funds to make up the recommended amount of cuts that money from their general funds would also revert to the state.
Losing the stimulus money will delay some projects around campus unless other funding sources are found, Brinker said. But losing the general fund money for next year will be more difficult.
"The stimulus was primarily going to be used for projects because it was one-time funding," she said.
The Indiana Commission for Higher Education said state colleges and universities need to find new ways to be efficient - without new tuition hikes - to cope with the cuts.
"The university as a whole operates very, very efficiently," Brinker said, "so it is going to be a challenge."
She it was too early to tell specifically what at USI might be effected. USI already has a freeze on creating new positions, although there are no restrictions on filling existing positions when they become vacant.
"The president (Linda Bennett) will have conversations about the budget with faculty and administrative staff in January," Brinker said. "Obviously, we are going to have conversations internally with the staff."
USI's 2009-2010 operating budget is $39,044,222 2009/10. It's 2010-2011 budget is $39,172,365 - before the $1 million loss.
In deciding its recommendations for the cuts, the commission rewarded schools that receive lower amounts of state funding per student and those that are making progress toward degree-completion goals. The amount of federal stimulus funds available also factored into the formula for cuts.
Ivy Tech Community College, which has the lowest operating expense per degree according to fiscal year 2008 data, fared the best under the commission's plan, with a 3.49 percent reduction over the two-year budget cycle, followed by USI and Vincennes University.
Ivy Tech would lose just 0.7 percent this fiscal year, which the school said would allow it to accommodate its record enrollment without layoffs.
Indiana State University would have the highest percentage of cuts, losing 6.64 percent over the two-year budget cycle. Indiana State received more state funding per student in fiscal year 2008 than Purdue University at West Lafayette, Indiana University at Bloomington and most other state schools. Indiana State is also among the schools with the highest operating costs per degree.
The commission also said schools should focus on instruction and providing resources to high-demand programs critical to the state's economy, while cutting lower priority academic programs, offering more online courses and giving incentives to students who complete degrees with the fewest possible credit hours.
The Associated Press contributed to this report