From:                              Broadcast to UMB

Sent:                               Friday, March 27, 2009 5:34 PM

Subject:                          FY10 Budget Planning 

 

MEMORANDUM

 

To:                The University Community

From:            Chancellor J. Keith Motley

Date:             March 27, 2009
Subject:         FY10 Budget Planning  

 

Earlier this week we had the pleasure of hosting Governor Deval Patrick on our campus for his announcement of some great news. The Patrick administration has proposed committing $162 million in federal stimulus funds for state and community colleges and universities in Massachusetts. This funding includes $81 million for the University of Massachusetts system and is being provided to restore some of the cuts brought about by the decline in state revenues.

 

I am incredibly grateful to Governor Patrick for his support and presence on our campus. He is a stalwart advocate for public higher education in general and UMass Boston in particular. He knows how a college degree can open doors for transformative opportunities, and he understands our important urban mission.

 

As welcome as this news is in the public higher education community and among our students, it is not a panacea for our funding challenges. Governor Patrick’s proposal will now go to the Massachusetts legislature and will be considered as the legislature moves toward establishing a state budget for fiscal year 2010. We will work in collaboration with the Patrick administration, the legislature, UMass President Jack Wilson, and our sister campuses to bring the greatest benefit possible to UMass Boston.

 

I encourage your support of our efforts, in addition to your questions and suggestions about the budget process, cost savings, and revenue enhancements. Email the UMass Boston budget team at budgetfeedback@umb.edu, or visit our new web-based electronic suggestion and question box, where your ideas and questions will be reviewed, responded to with answers, and may be posted on the site to be shared with the university community.

 

Given the many uncertainties around the state budget and stimulus funding, we must continue our FY10 budget planning in a responsible, strategic manner. Last fall, when we received word of the first state funding cuts, I asked my staff to develop a plan that would enable the university to approach a multi-year reduction in state funding in a way that would protect our academic core and student experience while moving the university forward toward its strategic objectives. We weathered those state funding losses through a combination of energy savings and operational cuts such as delaying hirings, reducing overtime, moving some state-funded salaries to trust funds, eliminating part-time temporary positions, and using reserve funds to fill the remaining gap. We met the challenge of a $6.1 million cut in state funding with minimal impact. Our objective was to buy time to allow us to approach longer-term funding reductions though our annual budgeting process, which is guided by our strategic plan and aimed at meeting our strategic objectives.

 

In planning for our FY10 budget, I have asked all deans and vice chancellors to prioritize all of their programs and activities to support our strategic plan and protect our academic core and student experience. I have also asked each of these key leaders to present 6 and 9 percent budget reduction scenarios. We will evaluate these budget options in light of our strategic objectives to:

  • Increase student access, engagement, and success
  • Attract, develop, and sustain highly effective faculty
  • Create a physical environment that supports teaching, learning, and research
  • Enhance campus-community engagement through improved operational structures

At this point in our FY10 budget planning, we know that we will have to implement painful cuts. In anticipation of these and to enhance the university’s cost-control measures, I have asked our Human Resources Office to immediately halt all hiring requests to fill open or requested positions, excluding tenure-system faculty, federal work-study students, graduate assistants, and fully funded federal grant positions. The filling of vacant or new positions will wait to be incorporated into our strategic budget planning process, during which our funding picture will become more clearly defined. Together, we will establish a vacancy review committee to consider all requests for exceptions to this hiring freeze. Human Resources will distribute additional details of the plan in the coming days.

 

We continue to benefit from our previously implemented cost-reduction measures, and during our budget planning process, we will weigh additional savings options and will leave no revenue source untouched as we work toward a balanced, responsible spending plan. My Office of Administration and Finance will provide regular updates about the budget process on its FY10 budget site, and I will keep you informed through timely university-wide communications.

 

I thank you all for your interest in and continued commitment to UMass Boston, and I am confident that by working together we can continue to move our university forward even through these difficult times.