Office of the president

Response to Education Appropriations Subcommittee

Iowa State University's response to questions from the Iowa Legislature's Education Appropriations Subcommittee, March 3, 2009

1. How will you implement the Governor's proposed FY 2010 reductions to your programs? Will you decrease particular services, offer fewer programs, reduce staff time on a particular program, furlough or layoff staff, or take some other measures in response to the reduction?
   
   As we plan our budgets for FY2010, we intend to have them reflect the combined $7.2 million in mid-year reductions that we have already absorbed and the 6.5% budget reduction proposed by Gov. Culver. Together those represent a $25.14 million (9%) reduction in state appropriations for FY10, as compared to our original FY09 appropriations, and we will be making strategic budget adjustments around that total amount. With the university's senior leadership team (vice presidents, deans, and others) and the University Budget Advisory Committee, we are formulating strategic budget decisions. We have also appointed a number of planning teams to examine a series of areas where we believe opportunities may exist for cost savings (see: http://www.public.iastate.edu/~budget/StratBudPlan.shtml). The vice presidents and college deans are separately planning how they will accommodate reductions in their allocated state funding. An example includes our decision to close the university's linear accelerator facility that has been used for more than 15 years for research into improved food safety through irradiation, saving approximately $130,000/year. We do anticipate staff layoffs, reductions in services provided to the public and to our campus constituents, and many programmatic changes. The budget reductions will result in larger class sizes and fewer course and program options for students to choose from. We are also evaluating the feasibility of closing all or parts of the university during holidays and semester breaks.
   
   
2. What three programs, services, or functions would you want to spare from reduction, in part or total, if possible?
   • Student financial aid
   • Campus security and safety
   • Student recruitment programs
3. What three programs, services, or functions could be reduced or eliminated with the least impact to recipients and/or the institutions?
   • Eliminating low enrollment courses and programs
   • Combining academic and student support services
   • Outsourcing of e-mail services for students, at their request
4. How will the economic downturn affect your services and the cost to provide those services? What are the key factors? What are the trends?
   
   As we weather the challenges created by the national economic crisis and the resulting cuts to our state appropriations, our top priority will be to maintain the quality of our educational programs. We will not divert tuition revenues to cover reductions in other parts of the university that do not serve the interests of the tuition-paying students. Inevitably that will mean a reduction in services the university provides to external clients through programs that are supported by state appropriations, including many of our extension programs and economic development activities.
   
   It is also likely that the nation's economic downturn will eventually impact private giving to the university by our alumni and friends. We have seen a significant decline in the overall value of our endowments that provide funding to support scholarships, faculty research, and many university programs. Our sponsored funding (external grants and contracts) is showing a good increase, due to the great work of our faculty and staff, and we must keep that strong. The decline in energy costs will result in our utility bills being somewhat less than originally budgeted, but we continue with our strong focus on energy conservation.