Floyd, Bayly to co-chair new committee on budget reduction
PULLMAN — WSU President Elson S. Floyd and Provost and Executive Vice President Warwick M. Bayly have formed a university budget committee to assist in the fact-finding and decision-making regarding the budget reductions facing the university for this fiscal year and the upcoming biennium.
“This committee is representative of our university community while remaining adequately small and nimble to quickly and decisively respond to the budget opportunities and challenges that await us in the coming months,” Bayly said.
He said the committee will be asked to:
* Review and assess all potential action plans related to the institution’s budget;
* Help provide clear communication and feedback to the university community regarding the budget actions being considered; and
* Encourage the university community to share ideas on how to cut costs,operate more efficiently, increase revenue and more effectively fulfill the university’s mission.
* Help provide clear communication and feedback to the university community regarding the budget actions being considered; and
* Encourage the university community to share ideas on how to cut costs,operate more efficiently, increase revenue and more effectively fulfill the university’s mission.
The president and provost will co-chair the committee. They have asked 13 administrators, faculty and staff members to serve.
The committee members are Howard Grimes, vice president for research and dean of the Graduate School; Linda Fox, associate vice president and dean of WSU Extension; Mike Griswold, dean of the College of Sciences; Ron Mittelhammer, director of the School of Economic Sciences; Carol Bauman, finance officer, College of Business; Dawn Barnard; director of administrative and financial services, Information Technology Services; Bill Cofer, chair of the Faculty Senate; Hal Dengerink, chancellor of WSU Vancouver; Bryan Slinker, interim dean of the College of Veterinary Medicine; John Roll, associate dean for research, WSU College of Nursing; Mary Roe; associate professor, Department of Teaching and Learning; Vicki Burnham, assistant to the dean, College of Pharmacy; and Paul Whitney, interim dean, College of Liberal Arts. When a permanent dean of the College of Liberal Arts joins WSU, that individual will assume Whitney’s position on the committee.
In October, WSU was informed by the Office of Financial Management that the university needed to reduce its budget for the current fiscal year by $6 million, which represents about 2.4 percent of the university’s state budget allocation. Planning for that budget reduction is complete; money has been saved largely through hiring and travel restrictions.
In late November, the state informed WSU that it would need to reduce its current fiscal year budget by an additional $4.47 million. Planning to implement that budget cut is continuing. Meanwhile, universities across the state have been notified by the state to anticipate even deeper budget cuts in the upcoming biennium in light of the continued downturn facing the global economic system.
In his charge to the committee, Bayly wrote: “While we do not yet know the size or depth of the reductions to be made, it is clear that our students, faculty and staff will need to think more creatively to deal with these budgetary restraints.”
