Georgia colleges prepare for more cuts

By Laura Diamond

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Professors and other staff at Georgia’s public colleges and universities will be required to take six furlough days because of the state’s budget crisis.

The mandatory furloughs for nearly 40,000 employees are among a series of steep budget cuts the State Board of Regents approved Wednesday because of revenue shortfalls.

University officials said the cuts will result in fewer classes, less support for students who struggle and could make it difficult for students to graduate on time.

Chancellor Erroll B. Davis, Jr. said the system will do its best to weather the cuts, but he shared worries with board members about the long-term impact on students and the state.

“There is danger for us not being able to maintain academic excellence in the classroom,” Davis said.

The mandatory furloughs will save the University System of Georgia about $42 million and result in up to a 3 percent pay cut for employees, according to data supplied by the system.

Classes will not be cancelled because of the furloughs. Employees who make less than $23,660 a year are exempt.

Gov. Sonny Perdue ordered all state employees to take three unpaid days of leave by the end of 2009 because of declining revenue.

University System employees will take at least three days by the end of the calendar year and the remainder by the end of the fiscal year, June 2010. Each institution will decide how its employees take furloughs.

Perdue also said the state must cut spending by 5 percent. In response, each public college submitted plans to the University System showing how they would slash spending if they cut budgets by 4 percent, 6 percent or 8 percent.

With the state already withholding 5 percent of funding, many institutions must already implement their 4 percent plans.

The plans include layoffs and eliminating jobs, cutting back on library purchases and postponing some maintenance and construction projects.

Should the University System have to cut budgets by 8 percent, student fees would increase by $75, $100 or $150 a semester, depending on the institution.

Usha Ramachandran, vice chancellor for fiscal affairs, described the fee increase as “a last resort.” The regents did not approve the fee increase Wednesday, but Ramachandran said the system would bring the request before the board if needed.

The cuts come on top of a 5.5 percent reduction in state funding - about $275 million -- colleges already dealt with for the fiscal year that began July 1.

The university system received about $2.08 billion from the state for this fiscal year.