5 BA, other programs, staff at risk

In an e-mail to Nicholls employees sent last week, University President Dr. Stephen Hulbert specified budget cuts that will result in the loss of 79.5 faculty and staff positions in the next fiscal year.

The layoffs do not include several tenured and tenure-track faculty, each of whom requires one year of notice before they can be terminated. The combined salary of those faculty members is nearly $1.1 million.

Nicholls released its $5.3 million Budget Reduction Plan to the University of Louisiana System Board of Supervisors two weeks ago without specific details.

If there is no relief from the proposed plan by state legislators, Nicholls will have to cut nearly $1.1 million more or find additional revenue sources before July 1.

“Since (May 1), my senior administrative colleagues and I have been notifying affected faculty, administrators, and staff,” Hulbert said. “Our intent was to allow those Nicholls colleagues to hear the difficult news from us rather than through Baton Rouge or the media.”

On Friday, the UL System authorized its eight universities to implement employee furloughs, increase campus housing and meal plan prices and endorsed a 5 percent tuition increase, pending approval by the state Legislature’s Joint Legislative Committee on the Budget.

“The measures … address less than 15 percent of the proposed budget shortfall,” said UL System President Randy Moffett. “The board and our universities are pursuing all possible avenues to meet the projected shortfall. Unfortunately, everyone will be impacted if the current budget remains unchanged.”

The 5 percent tuition increase is projected to generate $13.6 million systemwide.

Twelve academic programs will be eliminated outright with as many more being reduced, resulting in 35 faculty and six staff members gone.

Associate and baccalaureate degree programs being eliminated are criminal justice, legal assistance studies, cardiopulmonary care, computer science, manufacturing technology, agriculture business, French and French education and human performance education.

Health science concentration programs to be cut are: advanced cardiopulmonary care, cardiovascular technology, cytotechnology and wellness and sports science.

Hulbert said every effort is being made to help students who are affected by the eliminations.

“We are writing directly to new students indicating that we will work to find them another appropriate area of study,” he said. “Affected students are being referred to the Academic Advising Center for personalized service focused on their particular needs.”

Current students have until May 2010 to complete major course work toward their degree requirements and May 2012 to complete the remaining requirements such as general education and electives.

Departments that will experience a reduction in staff include the John Folse Culinary Institute, teacher education, Honors Program, communicative disorders, music, history, government, mass communication, chemistry, geography, university studies and family and consumer sciences.

On the athletics side, women’s golf will be eliminated, along with five assistant coach positions in various sports. The number of games scheduled and miles traveled will also be reduced.

Thirty-one staff positions will be cut throughout administrative and student support services.

University Centers and their related academic programs will lose 7.5 staff positions. Operating budget support for the Upward Bound program and the Louisiana Center for Women and Govern-ment will be eliminated July 1 and Jan. 1, 2010, respectively.

There will be a reduction in services and operating budget support for the University’s Center for Dyslexia, Sculpture Garden and various tutorial and academic advising centers.

Annual merit increases have also been halted for Civil Service employees during 2009-10.

“Nicholls State University remains a strong, healthy university,” Hulbert said, noting state budget hardships made the cuts unavoidable. “Together, we will work to minimize to the greatest extent possible the impact of this loss in state support upon the university, its programs, staff and students.”