Gov. Mike Beebe announced earlier this week that $106 million would be cut from the state’s 2010 general revenue budget.
This cut “certainly makes for a very challenging situation,” said Dr. Welch, president of Henderson State University, which will see a 2.4 percent reduction, or $438,000, in state funding. This cut is on top of a $425,000 cut in October, when $100 million was cut from the state budget.
“If you add in the amount cut prior to this, we’ve had over $900,000 in cuts since the beginning of this fiscal year,” Welch said in a telephone interview Wednesday.
The university will absorb the cuts through restructuring its administration. “We had vacant positions that allowed for savings.” The school will also take advantage of lower interest rates on its bonds. In addition, Henderson has received stimulus money from the federal government that it has been able to use without touching the general revenue. Because of these steps, the school has so far been able to avoid layoffs, benefit reductions, hiring freezes “or anything of that nature,” he said.
“We know these are Band-Aid approaches. These are not the kinds of solutions that are long-term or that will solve these problems. We’re trying to weather this economic crisis without benefit reductions.” He said the steps the school will take this time will “buy ourselves more time to take additional steps to get us through this. We’re fortunate we’ve been able to get through this” so far.
The school found itself with a budget deficit before the state made its first cut, and Welch has said that the school can survive “barring any unforeseen circumstances.”
Those “unforeseen circumstances” arose in October with the first series of cuts, and the school was able to use “rainy day” funds to stay in the black.
But now that there have been even more cuts, what could happen in the future?
“If there are future cuts, it’s going to be extremely difficult for us to cover” services and payroll. It is a “dire situation. We have been able to prevent layoffs to this point, but the frightening part is the unknown, if there are additional cuts to come and what’s in front of us.”
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Gov. Mike Beebe announced earlier this week that $106 million would be cut from the state’s 2010 general revenue budget.
This cut “certainly makes for a very challenging situation,” said Dr. Welch, president of Henderson State University, which will see a 2.4 percent reduction, or $438,000, in state funding. This cut is on top of a $425,000 cut in October, when $100 million was cut from the state budget.
“If you add in the amount cut prior to this, we’ve had over $900,000 in cuts since the beginning of this fiscal year,” Welch said in a telephone interview Wednesday.
The university will absorb the cuts through restructuring its administration. “We had vacant positions that allowed for savings.” The school will also take advantage of lower interest rates on its bonds. In addition, Henderson has received stimulus money from the federal government that it has been able to use without touching the general revenue. Because of these steps, the school has so far been able to avoid layoffs, benefit reductions, hiring freezes “or anything of that nature,” he said.
“We know these are Band-Aid approaches. These are not the kinds of solutions that are long-term or that will solve these problems. We’re trying to weather this economic crisis without benefit reductions.” He said the steps the school will take this time will “buy ourselves more time to take additional steps to get us through this. We’re fortunate we’ve been able to get through this” so far.
The school found itself with a budget deficit before the state made its first cut, and Welch has said that the school can survive “barring any unforeseen circumstances.”
Those “unforeseen circumstances” arose in October with the first series of cuts, and the school was able to use “rainy day” funds to stay in the black.
But now that there have been even more cuts, what could happen in the future?
“If there are future cuts, it’s going to be extremely difficult for us to cover” services and payroll. It is a “dire situation. We have been able to prevent layoffs to this point, but the frightening part is the unknown, if there are additional cuts to come and what’s in front of us.”
