Whitlock Declares Hiring Freeze in Advance of Anticipated Cuts

Dear Colleagues,

When I sent you my most recent communication late last week, I did not know how quickly the request would come that we describe how we would implement a budget reduction and the impact of such a cut on the programs and services of Eastern Kentucky University. As you have probably seen in the media we have been instructed to prepare such a report based on a potential 4 percent reduction (just over $3 million) of our state appropriation.

While the media have accurately reported that these reports are due to the State Budget Office by December 5, we need to have EKU’s information submitted to the Council on Postsecondary Education by close of business on Wednesday, Dec. 3.

Dr. Richard Crofts, interim president of the CPE, was correct in his quoted statement in today’s newspapers. It is difficult to effect a mid-year budget reduction strategically. What we can do, however, is deal with it through short term strategies and then use the time between now and the end of the fiscal year to make the strategic adjustments in a more measured manner. That will be our approach. As we work together to accomplish this, we must keep in mind that the nation’s and state’s fiscal challenges will likely continue into 2009-10.

Next Monday I will report to the Faculty Senate where we stand on this matter. On Tuesday the Administrative Council – which now includes faculty, staff, and student leadership in its membership – will discuss the nature and content of what we will include in our report to be filed on Wednesday.

The strategic implementation of whatever cut we ultimately receive will involve the entire organizational structure coordinated by the Financial Planning Council. It is very possible that we will not know the true amount of our budget reduction until after the Governor and the Legislature have had an opportunity to address the state’s finances when the General Assembly convenes in January. As we did when earlier this year we were facing a possible 12 percent reduction (that turned out to be 3 percent), we will plan for the worse while hoping for the best.

What I will seek for us as we deal with the impact of the global economic crisis on our campus are:

1. Protection of our core instructional mission.
2. Avoidance of forced layoffs of faculty and staff supported by our general fund and auxiliary budgets. As we have done before, our goal will be to manage the unavoidable reduction of employees through attrition. In order to accomplish this, we will immediately be implementing a hiring freeze with the same conditions as what we had in place last spring semester.
I am confident that we will be implementing other cost containment measures that will be identified and communicated in the coming weeks.

I am equally confident that the Eastern Family is up to the challenges that face us.

Have a great Thanksgiving. Despite the hard work ahead we have much for which to be thankful.

Doug Whitlock

SOURCE: Campus-wide email

Advocates say more cuts would be 'devastating'

This from C-J:

Advocates for human services, education and other state programs reacted with disbelief to news that the state is facing another large budget shortfall that could force more spending cuts...

...Gov. Steve Beshear said the state is facing a shortfall of nearly $300 million in the fiscal year that could force more cuts at agencies that have already experienced reductions as he sought to balance the current budget, which took effect July 1.

Beshear said yesterday that he will develop a plan to deal with the shortfall, including ways to increase revenue and cuts that could affect any agency funded by the state...

...[E]ducation officials worry about the effect of further cuts on their already-lean budgets.

University of Kentucky President Lee Todd said more cuts would be "challenging, especially when they come mid-year."

"We spent half the money and we can't change our budget a lot," he said. "We'll continue to operate as best we can."Richard A. Crofts, interim president of the Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education, said higher education officials believe they offer a long-term solution to the state's economic woes by producing a more educated workforce.

"We realize there are serious problems. But we also believe we are part of a positive solution," Crofts said.

Kentucky Education Commissioner Jon Draud said it would be "incredibly difficult" to cut any more money from the state's kindergarten-12th grade education budget.

"These are tough times and I understand that," he said. "But this would be more than devastating to our school districts and it would really impact our children."

The Kentucky Department of Education already had to cut $43 million for professional development programs and after-school services, as well as money for textbooks. In addition, more than 1,100 jobs were cut by the state's public schools this year, according to a recent survey released by the Kentucky School Boards Association.

Cordelia Hardin, chief financial officer for Jefferson County Public Schools, said the district's revenue outlook already is poor.

"We are already committed to teaching staff, we can't make staffing cuts in the middle of the year," she said...

Cost of college on lawmakers' minds

This from Art Jester at the H-L:

FRANKFORT — Tuition at Kentucky's public universities and community colleges has shot up an average of 12 percent a year over the last five years, which is about four times the rate of inflation and the growth of the state's median family income.

That may be putting the cost of a college education out of reach for ordinary Kentuckians, worried state legislators and postsecondary education officials said Monday.

“Something's got to happen,” said Richard A. Crofts, the interim president of the state Council on Postsecondary Education.

“It can't continue, and we're going to have to develop a plan,” he said...

...Crofts said Kentucky's plan will have to take into account several factors:

■ An expectation that costs will go up.

■ A reasonable expectation of what Kentuckians should pay for college.

■ A reasonable expectation of how much students should borrow to help pay for college without being saddled with too much debt.

■ A reasonable expectation of what students should contribute to pay for their education, from summer earnings, campus jobs and the like...