The state's economic situation remains uncertain but could be dire enough for another round of mid-year budget cuts in the neighborhood of $200 million later this week.
Any further budget reductions will become clear after the Board of Revenue Estimates paints a picture of the state's economic outlook Wednesday. The Board of Public Works, composed of Gov. Martin O'Malley (D), Comptroller Peter Franchot (D) and Treasurer Nancy Kopp (D), will convene Wednesday to determine what must be done.
The state has yet to decide where other funds can be slashed, but nothing is off the chopping block, said O'Malley spokesman Shaun Adamec. But University System of Maryland Chancellor Brit Kirwan wrote in a system-wide message yesterday that the system is facing a second round of budget reductions for this fiscal year.
Instead of speculating about future cuts, the University System of Maryland officials are focused on trimming the salary and wage budget by $15.9 million within the next six months by implementing system-wide employee furloughs.
The Board of Regents, which oversees the university, approved the furlough resolution Friday, deeming the salary cut preferable to layoffs. State employee furloughs are expected to return $40 million to state coffers. University presidents will submit their plans within the next two weeks to Kirwan to create a system-wide solution; about $6.8 million of the total will come from this university, university President Dan Mote said.
Furlough days will be tiered, with high-salaried employees taking as many as five days without pay. The money could be subtracted from one pay period or the entire year. Kirwan said graduate assistants will not be affected.
"I will fight tooth and nail to ensure that graduate students won't be furloughed," Provost Nariman Farvardin announced at a Graduate Student Government meeting on Friday. "They're students, not employees."
The state budget was slashed by $350 million in October, including $15 million from the system, $4 million of which came from the university. The university also implemented a hiring freeze and delayed repairs and maintenance across the campus.
The last time the university faced multiple budget cuts during one fiscal year was in 2002, when a series of cuts forced the regents to raise tuition between semesters.
As of now, system officials are in the dark about what could come next.
"The state hasn't said yet whether they're going to reduce state budget funds, or from what," Kirwan said. "Given the state of the economy, there's no guarantee."
One thing that is out of the question is a mid-year tuition hike for in-state students, as the regents voted against it earlier this year. But after a three-year freeze, a tuition increase is still possible for fiscal year 2010.
"It's fair to say that it's not off the table, and it's a reasonable idea to consider, as well," Mote said.
Interim Vice President for Administrative Affairs Ann Wylie said she doesn't know if the university's budget will be cut this year, but doesn't expect to receive the full funding request for fiscal year 2010.
"In my division, I've just asked each of my directors to start thinking about how they would operate with fewer funds next year," Wylie said.
She hasn't ruled out eliminating programs, but she said she hoped construction projects won't be delayed.
Rumors that the university's budget could be cut by 10 to 15 percent are "way premature," Kirwan said.
Staff writers Jeanette Der Bedrosian and Julia Russell contributed to this report.
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