Office of the Chancellor > Budget Updates > May 18, 2009

Chancellor's Budget Update for May 18, 2009

Dear CU-Boulder faculty and staff member:

I want to take this opportunity to update you on information on our budget cuts and tuition modeling that we presented today to the Board of Regents at the board's meeting at the University of Colorado Denver.

As you all know by now, CU-Boulder is implementing a $12.9 million budget cut effective July 1, 2009 for the 2009-10 fiscal year. We undertook this cut with the guiding philosophy that we would preserve what is most crucial to our success, and what would directly support our role and mission. Approximately half of the reduction was identified at the central campus level ($6.1 million) and the balance ($6.8 million) was identified at the unit level. I have had an opportunity to review the proposed reductions and I want to share with you the dimensions and impacts of these decisions:

• We will eliminate 33 faculty full-time equivalent positions and 42 staff full-time equivalent positions, for a total expense reduction of just over $6.5 million. You will recall that back in October 2008 I asked that the deans and unit directors slow the hiring process and leave positions vacant wherever possible which resulted in our ability to make these reductions with a minimal number of layoffs.
  
  
• We made cuts in information technology, for a savings of $698,561.
  
  
• We reduced our planned investments in the Flagship 2030 strategic plan initiatives, for a savings of $330,000.
  
  
• Unit operating support reductions and vacancy savings increases netted additional savings of about $1.89 million.
  
  
• Our contribution to the CU system was reduced by $2.8 million - made possible by the cuts taken by the President in System administration costs.

All told, these cuts total just over $12.9 million - an amount that cannot begin to calculate the lost opportunities represented by unfilled faculty and staff budget lines, or the compound effects of the loss of personnel due to layoffs. This has been a difficult process for our campus community, and we acknowledge that these cuts will further result in rollbacks of services, and short- and long-term sacrifices within our community.

In addition to budget cuts, we are constantly revising our operations and services to be as effective and cost efficient as possible within the resources available. We will continue to encourage further reviews in this area and report on progress throughout the year.

I want to thank our deans and department chairs for their steady engagement with me and the vice chancellors. These are tough choices we are making, and the strong leadership I have witnessed from the department level to the highest ranks of our campus and system administration has been truly exemplary and inspiring.

Today, we outlined further budget and expenditure options for the Board of Regents. We are projecting a freshman class next year of around 5,500 based upon the number of committed 2009-10 resident and non-resident freshmen as of May 1. Within that group, we can expect a high number of resident commitments, but a smaller number of non-residents than in last year's record class, though still within historic ranges. In addition, we are working closely with the board on possible tuition increases.

I believe we are weathering these tough times, at least this year and next year, without long-term adverse effects upon our core mission. We have received strong support from the governor and from President Benson, and many economic indicators are beginning to improve. Now is the time for us to exercise the maximum creativity and ingenuity in combining resources, finding cost savings in all our core operations, and stretching our academic resources as far as we can while still maintaining quality.

It takes a special community to do this -- and the CU-Boulder community is precisely such a community. Thank you for your continued interest and support. Please look for more budget communiques from me in the near future.

Sincerely,

Phil DiStefano, Chancellor
University of Colorado at Boulder