To the UMW campus community:
I am certain that many of you have followed the recent budget deliberations taking place in Richmond. It now appears that the state will have a biennial budget in place before the end of June, which will avoid the possibility of a government shutdown. While that is long-awaited good news, recent State revenue projections for the last quarter of this year (April 2014 – June 2014) and for next year (July 2014 – June 2015) show a significant downturn from previous projections. In response, lawmakers have eliminated new funding for all state colleges and universities for next year, including proposed salary increases for state employees. On the positive side, the General Assembly is not reducing our budget; instead, legislators are holding higher ed allocations at the same level as the current year.
For UMW, that means certain expenditures – unavoidable increases for utilities, leases, contracts, employer retirement and health insurance contributions; as well as costs associated with new initiatives, such as the BSN degree completion program and enrollment management – will have to be met primarily within existing resources. To secure those resources, the University will have to undergo a budget reduction exercise.
Due to the immediate and significant impact of this situation, budget reduction decisions will have to be made within the next two weeks. The recently completed reports from the two Strategic Resource Allocation committees will serve as a valuable reference, but I can assure you that we will not unilaterally make any decision that involves the closing of programs or operations. Tomorrow, you will receive a message explaining how to access the reports of our two Strategic Resource Allocation task forces.