Saturday, November 15, 2008

Tech preparing for eminent budget cuts

Thomas Guengerich New Mexico Tech

New Mexico Tech administrators are bracing for uncertain economic times and a state budget that will almost certainly require budget cuts for education.

The New Mexico Tech Board of Regents heard some good news and some sobering news at the meeting Tuesday, Nov. 11, in Albuquerque. Enrollment numbers — both overall and minority — are strong. However, the immediate outlook for the state's budget for higher education looks grim and the long-term outlook for federal funding is questionable.

Tech President Dr. Daniel H. López told the Regents that the state — through the Legislative Finance Committee — is expected to ask universities to trim their budgets by 5 percent.

López said he has instituted a hiring freeze and a wage freeze for all jobs that are tied to the state's General Fund. Jobs tied to non-state funding sources are not subject to the same restrictions yet, he said.

López said the state legislators have taken a dim view of programs known as research and public service projects, like the Bureau of Geology, the Petroleum Research and Recovery Center and others.

"The real problem is that these special programs have been collapsed together and viewed as a monolithic unit of add-ons," he said. "The fact is that these special projects are statutory and do serve our core mission."

López said his challenge for the upcoming 60-day legislative session is to educate lawmakers and key state employees about Tech's research divisions.

"We have to work hard on maintaining our line-item-funded programs because they serve our mission of research and education and they serve a statewide mission," he said. "We have tried to draw a distinction between divisions like the Bureau and the PRRC and all the other projects that have surfaced over the years."

López said he had a constructive conversation with faculty at the November meeting of the Faculty Senate. He said the faculty generally understood the rationale for a hiring freeze and offered constructive suggestions for proceeding within the confines of a tightened budget.

The general hiring freeze applies to the entire campus, López said, but does not include positions that are directly tied to contracts with private companies or the federal government. Nor does the freeze apply to essential positions. As an example, López said the vacant purchasing director position must be filled.

"That's a critical position that we can't do without," he said. "So we'll have to evaluate these positions on a case-by-case basis."

Regents Chairman Jerry Armijo asked López if the state's intent is to downsize programs or to save money. López said he felt like the current global economic downturn has state decision-makers examining both — the number of state-funded programs and cost of those programs.

"In defense of the Legislative Finance Committee and its members' concerns, such programs, in some cases, have exploded from a handful of programs to 60 or 70 programs," he said. "Universities haven't stayed focused. Now ... with the budget crisis, the Legislative Finance Committee is going after what they view as unnecessary programs."

López said New Mexico Tech has several important cost centers that are crucial. He specifically mentioned the Geophysical Research Center, the petroleum center, EMRTC and the Bureau of Geology.

"I talked to the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee and I said that if they have to cut, let us prioritize and don't sand across the board," López said. "I'd rather do away with one or two programs that aren't central to our mission and leave the others intact."

López said Tech has a small number of programs that do not directly relate to the core mission of education and research. He mentioned MESA as one potential program that is not central to the university's mission. MESA, an acronym for Math Engineering Science Achievement, is a high school science outreach program based in Albuquerque.

López also said he'd rather sacrifice those programs from the university's budget rather than see an across-the-board budget cut.

A tuition increase might be on the horizon, but López said, "There's a magic point at which you start losing students and declining enrollment would adversely affect the budget."

New Mexico is not alone. The University of Tennessee and Colorado State University are among the major schools that have announced major cuts. López said Arizona State University recently announced that it would lay off 200 non-tenure-track faculty members and that it is increasing the size of lecture classes from 300 to 1,000 students.

"We are better off than many states, but it will be tough," he said. "I hope by the actions we've taken, we can mitigate the impacts."

Regent Richard Carpenter said some private universities — Tufts, in particular — are abandoning their blind tuition policy. He said New Mexico loses students to private schools that offer generous scholarship packages.

"If they start cutting back, more students will look at in-state tuition," Carpenter said. "Applications to public universities are already increasing because of the economy."

Carpenter also said he is worried about retaining faculty if the university maintains a hiring freeze.

"We have a bunch of talented people who might think opportunities lie elsewhere where they can be better compensated," he said. "Somehow, we need to figure out how we can at least develop a plan for faculty retention. It would be terrible to start losing our great people."

López said the university is considering options, including early retirement, which would allow Tech to avoid layoffs.

"We've been through layoffs," he said. "We had one at EMRTC in the 1980s and they are very demoralizing."

Carpenter also said state funding might be a secondary concern if the federal government starts eying cuts. Considering that the entire New Mexico delegation is comprised of freshmen, he suggested that Tech consider hiring a lobbying firm.

Tech Vice President of Research Dr. Van Romero, who has had great success lobbying for earmarks in Washington, D.C., said he has shifted his efforts to include agency decision-makers as well as lawmakers in recent years. Romero said he felt confident that universities might stand to gain an advantage in the issuance of federal earmarks.

"If you're a big company like Boeing or SAIC, it's going to be really hard to move forward like they did in the past," he said, "because it just doesn't look right to give plus-ups to them. Maybe more money percentage-wise will go to universities. We will become the best friends of these large companies."

Tech Vice President of Academic Affairs Dr. Peter Gerity said the changes in federal funding — as a result of changing White House priorities — will not be felt for three or four years.

Gerity said the new administration will certainly shift its budgetary priorities, but to predict which agencies will be favored is simply crystal-ball gazing.

"We're going to have to ride it out and see what the future brings," Romero said. "Rest assured; we're going to play."

Dr. John Meason, director of EMRTC, said he has discussed future funding with the division's major customers. He said Boeing, Raytheon, Alliant Tech and Tech Support Working Group all gave positive projects for the next two to three years.

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