Dear Colleagues,

On Wednesday, many of you gathered with me in the grand ballroom of the Joe Crowley Student Union for a town hall meeting regarding the budget crisis facing the state and our University.

Before I address some of the specifics associated with the meeting, I wanted to say that I was heartened to see so many of you in attendance. The grand ballroom was full, and your thoughts, ideas, comments and willingness to candidly share your concerns were greatly appreciated. This is a very challenging time for the University, but as I have said many times, one of the competitive advantages that we have is our strong sense of and respect for collegiality, shared vision and open dialogue.

As I mentioned in my opening remarks on Wednesday, we are living in uncertain times. It is a serious time, and we are in a real budget crisis. Guiding all of our budgetary decisions has been the belief that we wish to do as little harm as possible to our long-term future. I believe this philosophy served us well when the state asked us in January to make a 4.5 percent budget reduction. While there was some real pain, and some real loss, associated with those cuts, we nonetheless did not change the trajectory of the institution. We did things in a way that I truly do believe strategically positioned us better for the future.
Recently, we were asked by the state to formulate plans for further budget cuts. For Fiscal Year 2009, which begins in less than two weeks, we have been asked to make either an additional 2 percent or 4 percent cut for the coming year. For Fiscal Years 2010-2011, our task could be to plan for as much as a 14-percent budget reduction.

Let me be candid: a 2 percent cut would be very difficult for us to do, particularly at this late stage in the year; a 4 percent cut would cause very serious dislocations; a 10 to 14 percent cut would irrevocably change our trajectory as an institution.
I am particularly troubled by the prospect of a double-digit budget cut. A double-digit budget cut would make us a less robust University, with fewer educational choices for our students, fewer opportunities for our faculty and staff, and fewer tools and opportunities for our University to become the knowledge-based anchor for a modern, more diversified Nevada economy.

Such budget cuts would change our trajectory not only for the short-term, but for the foreseeable future and it would greatly hamper our ability to serve the need for educating even more citizens in one of the fastest growing states in the union.
I must add, however, that we recognize that the state has a real problem and we wish to find creative ways to help the state solve this budget crisis. I am optimistic that the state’s executive and legislative leadership will work together to formulate a plan to reduce the severity of the proposed budget cuts. Indeed I believe that when the severe consequences of the impact to education and human services become apparent, leaders in the state will take actions to alleviate the reductions.

What is our plan to meet these challenges?

First, we will be guided by principles endorsed by the Faculty Senate, which focus on protecting our teaching and research missions to the fullest extent possible, as well as protecting programs that directly ensure success of our students and the welfare of faculty and staff. Beyond this, should it be necessary to impact personnel or programs, we will work to preserve the overall functioning of those elements of the University that are central to the core, that have achieved national prominence and that provide the most value to University constituencies. As always, I appreciate the Senate’s constructive participation in this process.

On Wednesday, I announced three major steps we will be taking in order to meet the various budget reduction scenarios requested by the state.

The first involves continuation of the strategic hiring freeze that the University implemented earlier this year. Positions currently open or that become open will be filled only if they are critical to the mission of the University; hiring will require the approval of the president or the provost.

Second, the Provost’s Office is developing the framework for a retirement incentive program for tenured faculty which will be announced in late summer or fall. Non-tenure track academic faculty and administrative faculty who are considering retirement sometime in the near future can work with Vice Provost Jannet Vreeland to explore options for early separation incentives on an individual, completely voluntary basis.

We are also studying ways to find potential savings in areas that could help our future budgeting. Energy conservation, consolidation of certain academic or administrative programs, and using telecommunication rather than travel for certain types of meetings, are among the many cost-saving measures we should all consider. I welcome any “efficiency” suggestions that you might have in these and other areas. These steps are intended to reduce the base budget expenditures of the University in ways that are least disruptive to people’s lives.

As I made clear in our meeting on Wednesday, one thing we will not do is issue mass notices of non-reappointment to all non-tenured faculty or to all administrative faculty. Such an effort would be disastrous for our future.

Faced with a possible double-digit budget cut for FY 2010-2011, however, we must plan for scenarios that would involve issuing some notices of non-renewals in certain areas. This means that it is likely we will need to issue some notices of non-renewal in the next two weeks. These will be difficult, wrenching decisions to make, but if this is what we must to do to protect the institution, we will undertake such action.

In closing, I would like to share one of the many comments that I heard from you on Wednesday. A non-tenured faculty member expressed worry about these times, and noted that “We make extraordinary contributions to the University.” As I told the non-tenured faculty member then, and I still believe, our top priority is to protect our teaching and research functions. Though this process will be difficult, our intention is not to travel blindly, looking for easy targets. I realize that many of you do indeed make extraordinary contributions to our campus. The lifeblood of our institution should always be a good academic experience for our students, followed closely by discovery, which occurs each and every day in our classrooms and in our research labs, and service to our community and to our state.

Now is a time where we must remember that shared vision, collegiality and open dialogue are what truly make us a special enterprise. Our University is a wonderful place, populated by talented, intelligent and inquisitive people, whose unselfish examples serve as the inspiration for many.

We will be holding more town hall meetings in the future, as more clarity is brought to the state’s budget situation. I want to close by expressing my appreciation to the university community for all you do and for your thoughtful support and advice in this challenging time.

As always, I welcome your thinking and ideas: glick@unr.edu

Sincerely,

Milton D. Glick
President, University of Nevada, Reno

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