VCU loses millions in state funding

Matt Leonard
Online Content editor

Statewide budget cuts announced by McAuliffe earlier this week will apply to public colleges and universities.

VCU will face a 5 percent loss this fiscal year and a 7 percent loss next year. That means over $8 million dollars in lost funding for this year.

President of VCU Michael Rao announced the news to faculty, staff and students via email on Thursday. He said they had already begun the process of accounting for the cuts planned to take place Sept. 19.

Planning of a new budget model began this summer. Rao stated VCU needs a system that will support it’s funding as the government struggles to provide resources.

A committee co-chaired by William Decatur, vice president of finance and administration and John Wiencek, interim provost and vice president for academic affairs, heads the creation of this new model.

Decatur brought up these plans at the board of visitors’ first meeting this fall, but he did not expand on the details.

The committee hopes to have this new model in place – running alongside the current system — by july 1, 2016.

“Time is of the essence,” the committees website says.

There are no details for this new plan, simply an expressed need and a team of people to help conquer it.

The site says they want to “create structures that incentivize revenue generation” and “Link academic authority and financial responsibility.” What this means is not explained.

As government funding has steadily declined over the years, tuition continues to climb for students as a means of compensating.

“Although not the ideal situation, we will be tackling the budget cuts and developing the new budget model simultaneously,” Rao stated in the email.