Lecturers and other short-term academic staff are among the cuts this year in the College of Letters & Science due to a nearly $1.5 million deficit encountered at the end of last year.
The college was able to cover nearly three-quarters of the deficit by utilizing funds from sources like gift and federal overhead funds, leaving the deficit at just over $400,000, according to L&S Associate Dean David Horvath. Horvath said the shortage was mainly due to growth in the number of staff within the college.
\It's all about managing a budget ... Some years it's easier to manage than others,"" Horvath said. ""Last year we ended with a deficit, and we had to deal with it.""
Horvath said the college's administrators could have dealt with the deficit by cutting across the board, but they chose instead to concentrate on restricting the number of short-term staff this year, resulting in a decrease in the available staff in the school. Any department within the College of Letters & Science that requested short-term staffing saw this area cut in their budget, he said. The consequence of fewer short-term staff members is fewer sections in some courses or a course not being offered at all. Horvath said the school will also see a restriction in short-term staffing next year.
Though last year's loss is just 1 percent of L&S' budget of $100 million, Academic Staff Executive Committee Chair Wilt Sanders said taking action was necessary to prevent deficits like this from becoming a trend.
""The major concern was not so much that it was $400,000, but that if [L&S] didn't do anything there would be another million-dollar deficit this year,"" he said. ""You have to make sure you plan for the next year.""
Departments that control their own budgets were also affected, Horvath said, but not necessarily in short-term staffing. These departments, which include history, chemistry and computer science, could choose where their 1 percent cut would occur.
Vice Chancellor for Administration John Torphy said L&S administrators were aware of the coming deficit last year, but in this particular case, they knew they would be able to cover it through other funds. He said a large deficit is not dangerous until it becomes reoccurring or when it affects the entire campus.
Torphy also said though a deficit of $1.5 million appears to be a copious amount of money, the budget of L&S is much larger than schools like Education or Human Ecology.
""This large of a deficit is not typical, but you're looking at a big budget,"" he said. ""Comparatively, it evens out. It's the magnitude of the size that is deceiving.""
Horvath said the deficit is only a major concern if it is not remedied and left to grow.
""It isn't a big deal,"" he said. ""It isn't unusual to deal with a situation like this.\
