Pitt has yet to announce where budget cuts will go

Pitt has to cut $42 million from its budget, but Pitt officials have not said exactly what will… Pitt has to cut $42 million from its budget, but Pitt officials have not said exactly what will be cut during efforts to chip away at the deficit.

And with six weeks left until classes start, the effect on students remains uncertain.

When the University passed its budget during a July 8 Board of Trustees meeting, officials said that the University would use an 8.5 percent in-state tuition hike to cover about $30 million of the University’s $70 million budget deficit, partially caused by state appropriation cuts. But three weeks later, the provost, school deans and department chairs still have not settled on which departments the budget cuts will affect ­— a decision usually made soon after the budget is approved.

Provost and Senior Vice Chancellor Patricia Beeson said that administrators would focus on keeping the cuts from affecting academic programs, but students might see some effects of the cuts, such as larger class sizes.

“Our main goal is to maintain the quality of academic programs,” Beeson said.

She declined to comment on which programs the University might cut as a result of the budget, saying it was “too early to know” and she was still in conversations with various school deans.

John Cooper, the dean of the School of Arts and Sciences, said that “we’re still working on exactly what [the budget cuts] mean for us in terms of dollars” but the school does plan to offer all the programs that are currently in place in the fall.

“Over the next few months, in this environment, we’re obviously going to be looking hard at how all our resources are aligned with institutional needs for undergraduate and graduate students,” Cooper said.

David Waldeck, chair of the chemistry department, is also unsure of what will happen in the coming school year. He said that he doesn’t know anything right now since decisions about the budget haven’t filtered down yet to departments.

“We usually do find out in the summer, but because everything’s been so screwy and up in the air, things have been sort of in limbo,” Waldeck said.

He said that he usually finds out his department’s budget in July soon after the Board of Trustees approves the final budget. So in that sense, he said it is not that unusual that he hasn’t heard anything yet.

But Waldeck said that things he would normally have heard about by now, such as recruitments of new faculty and staff in his department, he has yet to hear anything.

Since the University is running about three weeks late, Waldeck said his department is “proceeding really cautiously right now, just watching every penny we spend, trying not to spend too much.”

Departments are typically given operating budgets for things such as paper and telephones, Waldeck said. And it is that part of the cuts that he really doesn’t know about yet.

But he said his department has received special permission for funding to put extra teaching assistants and instructors in extra classes for the fall. The permission was needed in order to accomodate the growing number of students in freshman chemistry classes.

“The University is very committed to meeting the needs of all students, but they’re being very deliberate about each new section they do or do not create,” Waldeck said. “So far they have given us resources we need.”

Art Ramicone, Pitt’s vice chancellor for budget and controller, said at the Board of Trustees Budget Committe meeting on July 8 that the 22 percent cut in state funding would not fall entirely on students.

“We have fully expressed a commitment to our students and their families to not place the burden entirely on their collective shoulder,” Ramicone said. “We are going to cover 60 percent of the budget shortfall through a combination of central and unit-level budget cuts and adjustments. The remaining 40 percent will come in tuition.”

Patricia Beeson, provost and senior vice chancellor, said that the University is trying to take most of the cuts in back-office operations through channeled spending. They have also gone to each dean and asked them “to consider how they can be more efficient in their operation without sacrificing classroom instruction.”

She said she is hopeful that they can get all the cuts through the back-office operations and not have to affect the classroom. But she would not comment on what those cuts might be specifically, since they are still in the process of deciding them.

Beeson said there will not be a big announcement when the budget cuts are decided on, and there has not typically been one in the past when big cuts have been made.

While she said that the course schedule in the fall will not be changing, an announcement will be made if academic programs are cut.

Barbara Warnick, chair of the Department of Communications, which boasts one of the largest enrollments on campus, said that it is still premature to project what the impacts of the cuts are going to be.

As a member of the Senate Budget Policy Committee, Warnick said she knows the University is going to move slowly but they have been developing a plan for the massive budget cuts.

But she said that the University is prioritizng prior commitments and it is aware of the need to cover courses already set out for the fall.

“The administration is committed to honoring all the commitments they made to the students in terms of course coverage,” Warnick said.

She said there is nothing to do but wait.

“I don’t know how it’s all going to play out,” Warnick said.