UMD Administration Reacts to Budget Cuts
The University of Minnesota Duluth is continuing to work toward recovering from its budget deficit of $2 million. Recently, information pertaining to cuts in programs, services and positions was announced. Here is what administration had to say about the matter:
Fernando Delgado, Executive Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs
“The university lost around 900 students between the fall of 2011 and the fall of 2015. Shortly after my arrival, and as I was reviewing the findings and analysis of the faculty task force that met during the spring 2016 semester, UMD received our annual budget letter from the System office that indicated an expectation for more specific and clear budget cutting measures. As a result of the data and information provided I identified upwards of $2 million in cuts to colleges, another $300,000 was associated with other administrative units, and VC Steve Keto and I identified another $3.5 million in one-time cuts to buy down our debt. These strategies were discussed with the Council of Deans several times, culminating in a late August meeting with the academic deans and their associate deans where I gave three colleges their specific targets to cut out of their recurring budget (base budgets) to meet the $2 million goal.”
William Payne, Dean of College of Fine Arts
“The decisions were difficult. Budget cuts involve people. I have great respect for all of the faculty and staff that work for the Department of Fine Arts. None of the decisions were made without regret, however, we have lost a number of students over the years, so it made sense to make cuts where we no longer needed the capacity. I am grateful that the people I work with across campus have tried to do this with compassion and empathy.”
Susan Naramore Maher, Dean of College of Liberal Arts
“It is always a difficult process. People’s lives are affected by this. All of us who had to have those conversations had them face to face. It is sad to have to see very valuable and talented people be let go at the end of this year. At the same time, it is important for students to know that their experience at UMD will not be impacted as a result of these budget cuts.”
Amy Hietapelto, Dean of Labovitz School of Business and Economics
“It is painful, but it is necessary so that we are able to invest in programs and initiatives going onwards. The problem is that until we do this, we are not able to move forward and invest strategically for our future.”
Joshua W. Hamilton, Dean of Swenson College of Science and Engineering
“It is always difficult for individuals involved, but it is something that needed to be done at the university level to make sure that resources are being properly allocated. Although three of the colleges were targeted in terms of their instructional budget, every college has been impacted in some way. In addition to this, nonacademic units have also been impacted. These include: the library, student life, athletics, facilities and so on. The deans of all five colleges, as well as, the chancellor, have worked very closely together to tighten this gap - and that is unusual. I have been at a number of facilities over the years and many times, colleges feel like they are competing for resources. That wasn’t the case here at all. We have a really good team at UMD, dedicated to maintaining a positive student experience.”
Jill Pinkney Pastrana, Dean, College of Education and Human Service Professions
“The unfortunate reality is that we must reduce our costs at UMD. As always, our primary goal is to find efficiencies that will not negatively impact our students. We are working on optimizing our programs and finding as many efficiencies as we can. As a result, we need fewer faculty to deliver our programs.”
