By Marina Dundjerski
UCLA Today Staff
The University of California Board of Regents
approved the university’s 2003-04 budget request: full
basic funding of the Partnership Agreement with Gov. Gray Davis
and a $289 million — or 9% — increase in state funds
over this year’s budget.
Larry Hershman, UC vice president for budget,
told the regents — who met Nov. 13-14 in San Francisco
— that the proposal is “a good starting point”
for future budget negotiations with Davis and the Legislature,
acknowledging that considerable budget cuts may be required.
Currently, the university is $237 million below
the funding promised in the partnership. In addition, Davis
has been authorized by the Legislature to trim $750 million
— or 5% — from the current state budget. And there’s
the possibility in 2003-04 of an additional 20% cut that the
state has asked its agencies to plan for. The Legislative Analyst’s
Office released a report last week that projects California
will have a cumulative 2003-04 year-end deficit of at least
$21.1 billion, absent corrective actions.
Given the difficult times ahead, UC administrators
made their priorities crystal clear during the regents’
meeting.
“First, we must maintain quality and
access in the core instructional programs,” said UC President
Richard C. Atkinson. “That means funding for enrollment
growth and funding to maintain the high-quality educational
experience that students expect of UC.
“Second, we must provide salary increases
for faculty and staff so that we do not fall further behind
the market. Competitive salaries are key to quality —
we must prevent further salary erosion and also begin to close
the salary gap.”
The budget request includes $72 million for
an enrollment growth of 8,000 FTE students — “our
line in the sand,” Hershman said. “We’re going
to fight to the death over that.” The budget request also
includes $120 million for an average 4.5% salary increase for
eligible faculty and staff and 1.5% merit increases for eligible
employees. “It’s going to be difficult to achieve
that,” the budget chief said. “But the state made
a commitment to state employees and we are going to fight very
hard for our employees.” Hershman noted that faculty salaries
currently trail UC’s comparison institutions by about
7.5%, and that staff salaries are similarly behind.
Hershman also detailed several cost-cutting
options that the regents may need to consider in the future.
They include: a delay of summer instruction funding for some
campuses; a delay in restoring partnership funding for instructional
equipment, technology, libraries and building maintenance; reductions
in funding for research and public service programs such as
outreach; cuts to administrative and student services; and increasing
student fees to the level that existed prior to the 10% fee
reduction of the late ’90s.
As in previous years, the budget request includes
a student fee increase unless the state provides equivalent
funding under the partnership. In 2002-03, the state did not
provide funds in lieu of fee hikes, yet UC held fees steady.
The 2003-04 request asks for a 6.5% increase (about $225 over
the course of a year for resident undergraduates). The increase
would apply to mandatory systemwide fees and professional school
fees.
Hershman noted that the 6.5% figure is only
a planning figure and that the final number may well differ
based on the state’s budget plans.
“The regents’ budget is a fair articulation
of the university’s needs, but the state is going to be
very hard-pressed to support it,” said Steven A. Olsen,
UCLA vice chancellor for finance and budget. “The question
is what will the regents do if the state does not provide the
$49 million in lieu of student fee increases?”
Gov. Davis is expected to release his 2003-04
budget in January.
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*A
new UC policy effective 2001-02 requires students without
health insurance to purchase some through UC. Consequently,
they pay an additional $487 in fees, not included above.
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