2011-12 BUDGET REDUCTIONS UPDATE
F. Javier Cevallos
July 26, 2011

Dear Kutztown University Community,

Before August comes in and we get ready to prepare for Fall Semester 2011, I want to update you on our budget status.

First of all, I want to personally thank our trustees, students, faculty, staff, and friends for all the time and effort they spent to help change the initial proposed 52% reduction in our State appropriation to 18%.  Coupled with the 7.5% tuition increase approved by the Board of Governors at their June meeting (as indicated in my June 30 message to the campus), our 2011-12 Educational and General (E&G) budget shortfall is now $3.8 million. Although smaller than predicted, it still is a significant challenge to overcome. 

As I had previously stated, our guiding principle in addressing the budgetary shortfall is to "protect the classroom," and this has been our priority in preparing different reduction plans.  We found ourselves faced with the unenviable task of exploring our limited options for budget reductions, none of which seemed desirable.  We spent considerable time reviewing all aspects of our annual expenditures and, in the end, came to the painful conclusion that another substantial reduction in personnel would be necessary.

As I mentioned earlier, to balance our budget we need to eliminate $3.8 million from our E&G budget. A total of $1.9 million will be realized through the elimination of 47 budgeted positions, most of which are vacant. After reassignments within the university, a total of 11 employees have been furloughed, 9 of which are managers.  Additionally, $1.2 million has been eliminated as a result of the program reductions announced during the 2010-11 academic year. The remainder $700,000 were saved through employee retirements this year.

Please note that at the time of this email, all affected employees have been notified, and we are working with them to help them transition as best as possible. I want to personally thank them for all they did on behalf of KU.  Although they are no longer here, we appreciate their hard work for many years.

Overcoming a serious budget shortfall for a second straight year creates challenges on many fronts.  I know our staff will need to continue working diligently to streamline its efforts, while still providing quality service.  Faced with this challenging economic environment, we will be putting an even stronger effort into strategic planning in the year ahead to find ways to work proactively. I have realized it is no longer a matter of “doing more with less” or even “less with less;” it is rather “doing differently with less.”

Ultimately, I am confident that Kutztown University will remain strong and provide the quality education as we have done for so many years.

I look forward to sharing more specifics with you regarding the reductions and strategic plan at the opening day presentation on August 29.  For those of you who cannot be in attendance, we will be sure to post information on our website.

Sincerely,

F. Javier Cevallos
President