Chancellor Nordenberg speaks about budget cuts

Chancellor Mark Nordenberg answered some of students’ lingering questions about potential… Chancellor Mark Nordenberg answered some of students’ lingering questions about potential budget cuts following a meeting with state legislators Monday.

He emphasized that his role on Republican Gov. Tom Corbett’s transition team did not prepare him for a potential $80 million loss in state funding, which could happen if legislators approve the proposed budget.

“I was stunned at the level of the cuts,” Nordenberg said. “The mission of the transition committee was to provide advice with respect to short-term issues that might arise during the shift from Gov. [Ed] Rendell’s administration to Gov. Corbett’s administration. We were not given any role in the development of longer-term budget policies, and I had no special insights into the governor’s budget planning as a result of my membership on the transition committee.”

When asked what he felt would be a fair percentage for cuts, the chancellor said, “It is far too early to make a prediction with respect to the likely outcome.”

“As was indicated in the hearing,” he said, “we came out of this year knowing our [federal] stimulus funding was going to be lost. That $7.5 million reduction we took as a given. We really do believe we have a strong case to make for Pitt, both in terms of the people we’re serving through educational programs and the impact we’re having through research and outreach efforts.”

Asked if there were any other alternatives besides a tuition increase, Nordenberg said Pitt’s Planning and Budgeting Committee was brainstorming.

“We will do everything we can to help cushion the blow that our in-state students in particular would feel if cuts of this magnitude might impose,” he said. But Nordenberg maintained that there were real challenges to this, and he’s already said he’ll have to raise tuition next year.

“To be clear, a public university is able to maintain lower in-state tuition rates only because the state has chosen to invest in public higher education and to help subsidize the cost that otherwise would be borne by in-state students. It is going to be a real challenge because of that,” he said.