NSU braces for 15% budget cut

Nicholls State University will begin the fall 2009-10 semester trimmer – $5.3 million leaner courtesy of Gov. Bobby Jindal’s cuts to the state’s higher education institutions.

Jindal detailed the $66.6 million cuts last week to the University of Louisiana System, to which Nicholls and seven other universities belong.

Nicholls will receive 19 percent less than expected for the 2009-10 fiscal year. The cuts are based on a phase-in of the state’s performance-based funding formula.

“Our university presidents have been planning for significant reductions in funding, and the realities of these cuts are sobering,” UL System President Randy Moffet said in a release. “An $86 million drop in funding in one year is drastic and will impact the ability of our campuses to deliver services to students.”

The UL System was initially asked to cut $19.6 million dollars in January as part of Jindal’s plan to shore up the state’s upcoming budget shortfall. The state legislative session, which begins April 27, is expected to focus on spending.

In recent months, the UL System’s cut was increased to $66.6 million.

Nicholls cut 4 percent of its budget – $1.46 million – in January, according to university President Stephen Hulbert.

Nicholls must now cut an additional 15 percent to finalize its operating budget and submit it in time for the House Appropriation Committee hearing scheduled on April 21.

“Though the timeline for finalization of the plan is short, as best we can, we are seeking input from all those concerned before finalizing any formal documents for submission to the UL System office,” Hulbert said. “Nicholls will be looking at all positions and programs campus-wide when making decision about its final plan.”

“This will require very difficult choices that will impact all of the university community, including faculty, staff and students,” he added.

Moffet said state universities are committed to protecting the integrity of their core missions to educate, although the magnitude of the cuts will certainly be felt across the board. “Everyone will feel the impact,” he said.

Nicholls is reviewing its academic and student programs in search of places to trim, Hulbert said.

Eliminating programs, he said, will likely also mean reducing staff, which could translate into larger class sizes and decreased subjects, student activities and availability of academic advising and support services.

“Basically, we are now involved in discussion across the administration,” Hulbert said. “Each area of administration – academic affairs, finance and institutional advancement, student affairs and enrollment management – has to look for areas that can be reduced or where services can be combined.”

“We are looking at every alternative that we can find in order to reduce expenditures for next year while protecting the central core of the academic program,” he added.

Reducing class availability will be the most problematic for students, said Alex Barnes, the outgoing student government president at Nicholls.

“Students are hesitant to complete their schedules because they don’t know what classes will be offered next year,” he said. “That presents a problem in itself because if they don’t have the classes, it may delay their graduation.”

Although Nicholls has to finalize its budget for the upcoming year by July 1, Hulbert said once the university submits its budget plan, it will still be in a holding pattern until after the legislative session ends in June.

“The governor produces his executive budget,” Hulbert explained. “Then he submits it to the Legislature for approval or adjustments. The Legislature makes its suggestion and resubmits the budget to the governor for final approval.”

During that budgeting exchange, Hulbert hopes lawmakers consider the impact the cuts will have on higher education institutions and work to lessen the blow.

“It does not matter whether it’s a technical school, community college, four-year regional university or research institution like Louisiana State University, each institution is being dramatically hit,” he said.

In addition to the state budget cuts, Nicholls has had to absorb $1.3 million in personnel costs – workers compensation benefits, for example – that the UL System is no longer funding. To absorb those costs, Nicholls is raising its tuition by 5 percent beginning in the fall.

“The state is mandating that the university raise its tuition,” Hulbert said. “The (5 percent) will be just what we need to pay the personnel costs, assuming that we don’t have to make other changes to the budget next year.”