Wiencek: budget cuts are coming

A structural deficit caused by declining enrollment has to be addressed by spending cuts, UI provost John Wiencek said before the UI Faculty Senate

Alex Stutzman | Argonaut
File Photo | Argonaut

University of Idaho Provost John Wiencek led a discussion with the Faculty Senate Tuesday about budget cuts that will be taking place in the coming fiscal year.

Wiencek said the changes won’t be seen until July 1, 2019.

Wiencek said declining enrollment has placed a strain on the university budget, leading to a need for these changes.

Wiencek said all the cuts were carefully considered, and administrators had conversations  with the deans of all colleges.

Wiencek walked through what the cuts will look like for the university. The academic budget is being reduced by 3.31 percent to $59,897,535 and the non-academic budget, including administration and the library, is being reduced by 4.23 percent to $28,292,406.

The colleges that will be hit hardest by these cuts are the College of Education, Health and Human Services which will receive an 8.15 percent cut to its budget and the College of Natural Resources will receive a 7.37 percent cut.

Additionally, the strategic hiring process, discussed in a Senate meeting last semester, will be implemented as planned.

Wiencek explained that filling vacancies has traditionally been handled by colleges and departments but will now be handled by the provost’s office with the goal being to carefully examine if all vacancies need to be filled or if colleges or departments can fill those positions with the faculty and staff they already have.

Gavin Green can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @gavingreenphoto

Editor’s note: A previous version of this article misstated the name of the College of Education, Health and Human Services.

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