July 10, 2009

UNC Asheville Prepares for Further State Budget Reductions

• UNC Asheville Chancellor Anne Ponder called the campus community together Wednesday (7/10/09) to discuss measures the University is taking to preserve its core mission of teaching and learning in the face of further state funding losses in the new fiscal year.

 • Although the state legislature has not yet finalized the 2009-10 budget, significant budget reductions are expected as a result of the state's continuing economic challenges. In response, University of North Carolina General Administration has directed all campuses to plan for a 10 percent permanent cut in 2009-10 state appropriations. At UNC Asheville, a 10 percent permanent cut represents $4 million on a state budget of $40.2 million.   

• UNC Asheville was able to sustain last year's 7 percent budget reduction, which totaled $2.4 million, without eliminating full-time jobs. The University reduced the number of temporary employees and adjunct professors, and placed stringent limits on job-related travel and purchasing.  Knowing that job cuts were likely, UNC Asheville held many positions open as they became vacant over the past year, filling only those that were critical to the University's core mission. Existing staff took on additional duties and 13 faculty positions were left unfilled.  

• Because 84 percent of UNC Asheville's state funding goes to personnel costs, a 10 percent budget reduction will require the elimination of full-time jobs.  

 • UNC Asheville has developed a strategic process to prioritize budget reductions, with the overarching goal of protecting the classroom and the student experience. The University has conducted a comprehensive review of its organizational structure, looking for ways to improve efficiencies within administrative areas and eliminating functions not related directly to the University's core mission. At the instruction of the state legislature and UNC General Administration, the University also reviewed its centers and institutes to assess their relative contributions to UNC Asheville's mission and strategic plan.

 • As a result, 49 staff positions were affected this week. Of those, 43 staff positions were eliminated; 26 of the positions were vacant and 17 positions had people in them. The University transferred nine of the 17 affected staff members to open positions essential to academic and student services. Eight staff members were laid off. Six staff positions will be held open with the intention to fill them in the future. Elimination of the 43 staff positions will reduce UNC Asheville's expenses by $1.65 million.

 • The eight staff members who were laid off received a minimum of 30 days notice. They will receive severance pay, pay for unused vacation and other accrued leave, priority re-employment rights at any state agency for year, and assistance with job searches, resume writing and interview skills.

 • In addition, the University is closing the campus convenience store and has begun phasing out two centers, the Mössbauer Effect Data Center and the Environmental Quality Institute. The Mössbauer Effect Data Center, a data collection center for spectroscopy research, will be phased out as a university center over the next six months. The Environmental Quality Institute, a laboratory that focuses primarily on analyzing and monitoring water quality for municipalities and private individuals, will be phased out as a university center over the next six to twelve months. Some of the work of both centers may continue as scholarship endeavors of individual faculty members.

• Prior to the reduction in positions, UNC Asheville had 500 staff members. In addition, UNC Asheville has 227 full-time faculty members; there are no plans to reduce the number of full-time faculty.