UConn’s Board of Trustees’ financial affairs committee reviewed a presentation Wednesday that calls for possible faculty cuts, tuition hikes and other reductions to help close a projected $40.2 million deficit in fiscal 2017. The tuition hike could be addressed by the full board before the semester ends.
Scott Jordan, UConn’s executive vice president for administration and chief financial officer, painted a grim picture for the trustees committee. He said the current $40.2 million projected deficit isexpected to grow in light of the ongoing state budget woes. The university expects further cuts in the 2016 fiscal year.
Jordan told the finance committee since the 2013 fiscal year, state funding has been $32.4 million less than mandatory salary and fringe benefit increases. In the 2016 fiscal year alone, the gap is $6.2 million. His report didn’t outline the other revenue shortfalls.
The following steps might be taken to cut expenses, according to Jordan:
- Reduce workforce through position elimination
- Cut academic programs and departments
- Streamline processes for cost reductions
- Promote efficiencies
- Slow down faculty hiring
Among the steps being considered for increasing revenue are increasing philanthropy; growing enrollment; offering more online and summer programs; building up the university’s entrepreneurial programs; and increasing technology commercialization and business incubation.
“Going forward, our goal is to keep UConn great and to continue to advance academic quality and not to lose ground,” Jordan said Wednesday. “We need to protect everything that we have built and that the students have built at UConn, even though we face budgetary uncertainty.”
