Tightening the purse strings: VCU trims budget

Statewide budget cuts announced by Gov. Timothy M. Kaine will take their toll on VCU, who must cut costs by 5 percent, or $10.1 million, by June 2009.

Where the brunt of the budget cuts will fall is yet to be determined, but VCU’s Board of Visitors is considering a wide array of options including – but not limited to – larger class sizes, fewer course offerings and the possible elimination of some majors or degree programs.

“I would be devastated if they cut my major because I don’t know what I’m going to do if I don’t have my degree,” Jeff Blough, a junior anthropology major said. “I’ve spent three years now trying to get my degree and then I’d have to start from scratch.”

Currently VCU is supplementing the loss in revenue with internal savings and rainy day funds, but rector of the Board of Visitors, Thomas G. Rosenthal, anticipates larger budget cuts for the 2009-2010 academic year.

“We haven’t determined which programs (to cut), and we haven’t decided whether that’s going to be necessary,” Rosenthal said. “That’s really going to be (determined by) how dire the 2010 budget is.”

Rosenthal said the Board of Visitors won’t make any determination on more drastic budget cuts for next year until they receive their budget from Kaine in December.

A mid-year tuition hike is not being considered, Rosenthal says, but rates are expected to rise for the next academic year.

“My parents wouldn’t be able to pay anymore (if tuition costs rise) and I’d definitely have to take out more loans,” Blough said. “That would really screw me over later on in life.”

According to Rosenthal, VCU gets about half of its operating budget from student tuition, though the rates remain the lowest of all the state’s doctoral research institutions.

“Nobody wants to do it,” Rosenthal said. “We are very cognizant of what’s happening in the economy and the burden that additional tuition raises would place on our students.”

Budget cuts at VCU are a marginal representation of the nation-wide economic crisis. While the university is losing state funding, there also has been a decrease in private donations and fundraising.

“These are indeed extraordinarily difficult times in the financial world,” Peter L.Wyeth, vice president of university advancement said. “We understand that, at least in the short term, many donors may curtail their philanthropic giving.”

As budgets tighten, analysts have observed an increasing trend in the use of adjunct or collateral faculty -who are often overworked, paid less and receive fewer benefits.

In the past 10 years, VCU’s overall number of faculty has increased by 328. According to VCU’s 2007-2008 report on Tenure Status of Instructional Faculty, there has been a 2 percent decrease in tenure-track faculty and a 57 percent increase in faculty with collateral appointments.

“I would not be surprised if we find that we will have some additional adjuncts or collaterals,” Rosenthal said. “We would like to see that we continue our tenure-track and collateral faculty ratios.”

Larger class sizes would increase the workload of adjuncts and other faculty. Some students are concerned the change will impact the quality of education.

“When you’re getting up to the higher class levels, you’re going to need a smaller class so everyone can participate and understand,” Blough said.

Administrators remain confident the university can get through the rest of the year with only marginal changes, but the future remains uncertain.

“The country has gone through hard times before,” Rosenthal said. “This is a very vibrant, very entrepreneurial university.”