Budget cuts cut into universities & colleges

A day after the announcement of massive statewide budget cuts those impacted are starting to feel the effects like places of higher education where budgets were cut 5-7%.

For instance, The University of Virginia will have to cut its budget by more than $10 ten million. Virginia Tech will have to get by without almost $9 million and much smaller Radford University will have to chop $2.5 million.

University President Penelope Kyle is already coming up with things to put on the chopping block. “We’re going to take this additional 5%, remember this is in addition to a 5% cut that was already mandated on us beginning July 1…so it really means doing a 10% cut this year, but we’re going to absorb it ourselves.“
Kyle says most likely with jobs. “Certainly means any open position that we have that is unfilled now might have to go unfilled until June 30,“ said Kyle. “If we still don’t have the numbers we would have to look to layoffs.“

Faculty educational programs and trips could also be cut, but Kyle says one thing that won’t change this school year is tuition. She says cutting programs would be a last resort. “We have determined that the last thing we want to cut is anything to do with our education programs. The reason we exist is to teach these wonderful students that come here.“

Kyle says if programs are cut it would have to be ones the university didn’t commit to offering students through June 2009. She says a budget reduction plan will be taken to the board of visitors next month and at that time they’ll know for sure what will stay at Radford University and what will go.

As far as other schools, a spokesperson at Virginia Tech says the university hasn’t made a decision on how to make up the more than $8 million cut from their budget.