2012-13 Budget Update

Sep. 04, 2012

As you know, the legislature reduced our budget by $11.9m for FY2012/13. This is a non-recurring cut that was designed to reduce our carry forward balances. Yet, overall, the university has lost 47 percent of our state funding since 2007 in both recurring and non-recurring sources. We all feel the pain of dealing with these fiscal challenges and without our student growth our circumstances would be dire.

I want to let you know that the reductions for FY12/13 are now complete. Divisions will have the remaining carry forward funds distributed into their accounts this week. Additionally, the freeze on carry forward is now lifted.

Please understand that this was a difficult process. Each of us has contributed to this reduction and none of us will be happy. Yet, I tried in every way to listen to the campus community in determining the best path for handling the reduction. In the end, reductions were not across the board, but designed to allow for operational need, flexibility, and to the extent possible, added protection for our colleges and unique assets. I contributed $3.8m from the central and summer reserves to lessen the impact as much as possible.

Thank you for your patience and participation to solving this difficult issue. Specific details are posted online at http://uwf.edu/president/budget/assessment.