NICOLE BRODZIK | the Statesman
The University of Minnesota is currently spending $4.3 million dollars more than it is bringing in every year. With $4.6 million dollars in debt already, the University of Minnesota system has mandated that UMD find a solution to restructure their budget.
To tackle the problem, Chancellor Lynn Black and UMD’s vice chancellors created the “Compact Budget Proposed Plan for Resolution” that they presented at a town hall meeting in the Kirby Ballroom on Tuesday afternoon.
The chancellor reminded the crowd multiple times that this proposal was simply that, a proposal, and nothing has been set for the future. He also informed the crowd that the University of Minnesota system has allocated $1 million a year for the next two years to help UMD deal with the structural deficit. As for the current state of UMD’s monetary woes, Vice Chancellor of Finance and Operations, Stephen Keto, made it clear that the restructure is at the top of administration’s priority list.
“It’s an untenable situation that we need to fix as quickly as possible,” Keto said.
The current proposal has six major focuses. The first is being called “Required Savings.” This plan will be implemented on July 1, 2016 and will require a one percent budget cut from all departments campus wide. There are a few exceptions to this cut, including utilities, student financial aid and the police department, but areas such as the Chancellor’s Office and the athletic department will not be exempt.
The areas within the proposal that drew the most questions from meeting attendees were regarding the Academic Administrative Restructuring and Academic Program and Course Offering Optimization sections of the proposal. In short, this means the university will look at consolidating the number of colleges from five to three and potentially restructuring those institutions. Keto said that the idea of completely restructuring the academic layout of UMD was not the goal of this proposal, but that he sees consolidating as a viable and potentially helpful option.
“We can’t just respond to budget initiative with a complete academic reorganization,” Keto said. “The thinking is, let’s use this as an opportunity to look at our structure, operate more efficiently and think about ‘what are the connections?’”
Many questions targeted the lack of funding UMD has been getting. Staff and faculty were concerned that the deficit would not exist if UMD were given more money and that if the campus does solve its deficit problem, that it would deter the U of M system from allocating money to its northernmost campus in the future.
Chancellor Black said he does not think this is the case. He believes creating a solid plan moving forward is the first step in getting the executives in the Twin Cities to recommit to UMD.
“I think the allocations we received this year were a step forward,” Black said. “We have seen more money coming our way, but it’s not enough. Our base budget is lower than what it should be.”
Black said that he, as well as administration, are committed to getting UMD the money it deserves from the University of Minnesota system.
“We’ll continue to object,” Black said. “We’ll continue to protest.”
Other concerns from the crowd included the new Chemistry and Advanced Materials Science Building and where the $10 million UMD has to come up with for it’s creation will come from.
Black said he was actively working on fundraising and does not see this adding to the deficit.
In order to create a more concrete plan and involve the campus community, Black said they would be convening both staff and faculty task forces. These task forces will lead much of the discussion and decision making about possible college consolidation and deficit reduction.
He said they plan to present the framework created to the University of Minnesota system in March and have a final plan in place in a little over a year. Black also noted that he has been in communication with Student Association and Student Congress and will continue to do so throughout the decision making process.