What's New
UNCG Budget Information
Questions and Answers
1. How will UNCG determine where to make the budget reductions?
A seven-percent budget reduction amounts to about $11.8 million for UNCG. Our first priority is to preserve our ability to teach our students. The university is examining opportunities to increase revenues and reduce costs. We’re looking at our organizational structure to determine how we have organized and staffed our academic and support activities and whether there are programs and services that could be eliminated, suspended temporarily, or combined with other activities to improve efficiency. Each division is responsible for creating its own budget reduction plan based on university guidelines. A basic tenet to the university’s approach is to make decisions that meet the demands of the budget in a way that will help the university recover quickly when better budgetary times return. We are building budget plans based on campus wide conversations with faculty, staff, and students, and in accordance with guidelines provided to us by General Administration and the governor.
2. How bad is this going to get?
No one knows yet. There are many variables and unknowns about the economy, the stimulus package and other factors. We are planning for the possibility of a permanent seven percent reduction in our budget, beginning with the next fiscal year—starting July 1. It’s not possible yet to determine whether the economy will force deeper cuts. The harsh reality is that we may see reductions beyond seven percent.
3. When will we know how big a cut we will have to take?
There are many factors that have an impact on the budget discussion. UNCG’s budget is based on the state’s budget. Individual income tax makes up about 55 percent of North Carolina’s budget. So we will have a clearer idea of the state’s budget on April 15 when income taxes are due.
4. Didn't the university take budget cuts for this year?
Yes. So far this year we had an $11.8 million temporary reduction and a $1.5 million permanent reduction. Budget cuts for the next fiscal year, which begin July 1, could be recurring and we are planning for the possibility of 7%.
5. Will there be layoffs?
Unfortunately there is no way to achieve the budget reduction required without considering personnel costs—which make up approximately 80 percent of our total budget and an even higher percentage in many departments. Our approach to job reductions will be to eliminate vacant positions first. Other positions may not be refilled once the current contract expires. We will work with employees affected by reduction in force (RIF) procedures to provide services, such as help with priority placement into other state vacancies, resume preparation, job search strategies and other outplacement support.
6. When will we know how many people are being laid off?
It’s not clear yet how many employees will be affected. The best estimate right now is that if we receive a seven percent reduction in our budget, the result is about 110 positions eliminated. That includes eliminating all possible vacant positions and allowing some current time-limited contracts to expire. We will work with employees affected by reduction in force (RIF) procedures to provide services, such as help with priority placement into other state vacancies, resume preparation, job search strategies and other outplacement support.
7. What does the severance package for SPA employees include?
SPA employees will receive a severance payment that is calculated on their years of service plus age over 39. Depending on how much personal and bonus time they have taken, SPA employees are eligible to receive up to six weeks of annual leave and five weeks of bonus leave, plus unused comp time. SPA employees can receive one year of health insurance and those who have worked for the state for at least the previous 24 months receive priority for re-employment.
8. What does the severance package for EPA employees include?
EPA employees may be eligible to receive payouts of up to six weeks of unused annual leave and five weeks of bonus leave.
9. Will there be mandatory furloughs?
Furloughs—mandated leaves without pay even when employees have available leave balances—are not currently authorized by the state legislature, but may be considered. It would be helpful to have furloughs on our list of possible reduction strategies.
10. Why not use enough furlough days to get to a $11.8 million budget reduction?
Furloughs represent a one-time reduction, but we need to generate permanent budget reductions. A recurring furlough process amounts to a permanent salary reduction for all employees.
11. Will the faculty teaching load increase?
Faculty and administrators with academic appointments who step up and voluntarily assume additional responsibilities to teach classes and/or take on additional students in existing classes will be much appreciated and extremely helpful in minimizing the impact on students.
12. Will budget cuts only result in layoffs of SPA staff, or is it possible that faculty and administrators would be laid off too?
Despite our efforts to protect the classroom there will be layoffs in the faculty ranks. Our first priority is to maintain our ability to teach our students. For non-tenure-track faculty, current contracts will be honored, but when a contract expires, the department may decide not to issue a subsequent contract as part of their budget reductions. An EPA professional or administrator whose appointment is "at-will" rather than contracted could be laid off. There are significantly fewer of those than SPA staff. Many EPA professionals, especially in the research areas, aren't paid on state dollars, so cutting those positions wouldn't help meet the state's budget reductions.
13. Will student services be affected?
Core services for students will be preserved, but those associated with enhancement programs, specialty advising and some diversity and counseling services may be curtailed.
14. Will there be less financial aid?
It is not clear yet how need-based financial aid could be affected. More students are applying for aid as families feel the effects of a bad economy. We believe we will be able to meet the requests for aid, although we may need to rely more than we typically do on loans as part of the aid package. Also, the budget crisis has resulted in a decrease in endowment funds and other sources of scholarship funding. The university is hoping to find ways to fund continuing scholarships. Freshman scholarships may not be funded, so there will be fewer scholarship opportunities. The Federal Economic Stimulus package includes increases in some Federal financial aid such as Pell and work study. These increases will help.
15. Will there be more applications for enrollment?
Applications for Fall 2009 are running 2.1 percent higher than this time last year.
16. Will enrollment be capped?
At this time, UNCG does not plan to lower its target for freshman enrollment.
17. What effect will a bad budget have on graduation rates and students' abilities to complete their degrees in four years?
UNCG will do everything in its power to protect teaching and classroom activities by providing the class sections and instructors needed for students to make normal progress toward graduation. It is possible that budget cuts will hamper this effort.
18. What is the current student-faculty ratio?
16:1
19. What is the university's operating budget?
The beginning estimated operating budget for the 2009 fiscal year was $327 million.
20. How is the university funded?
The university’s funding comes from a variety of sources, and breaks
down as follows:
52% from state appropriations
20% from contracts, grants, and gifts
24% from tuition and fees
3% from sales & services, and other
1% from endowment & investments
21. What is meant by reversion?
Reversion refers to a one-time budget cut in the operating budget.
22. What happens to students who have been going to UNCG on endowed scholarships?
Those currently on endowed scholarships will be honored. The downturn could mean that fewer scholarships are offered to new students.
23. How has the economy affected endowed professorships?
It is likely that endowed professorships will be underfunded. We are seeking ways to make up the shortfall.
24. Will I be able to get financial aid at UNCG?
Our goal is to ensure that no student who can benefit from a UNCG education be denied that opportunity due to finances. That remains our goal, especially in a bad economy. There are still many variables to be sorted out, but we believe we will be able to accommodate the increased demand for aid. The aid packages may include a higher level of loans than is typical of a UNCG financial aid package.
25. If the amount of available aid is limited, can I afford to go to UNCG?
We believe that some level of aid will be available for all qualified students. In addition, several publications (US News, Kiplinger’s, Princeton Review) have ranked UNCG as a national “best value” in higher education, a ranking that combines academic quality and affordability. Affordability and quality are particularly important in difficult budgetary times and we will take steps to maintain that difficult balance, including holding the tuition increase for next year to less than three percent. It will still be possible to get a quality education at UNCG at a comparatively affordable cost.