Southern University System approves budget reduction plan on The Louisiana Weekly

In response to the state's impending budget shortfall, the Southern University Board of Supervisors met Thursday to approve a budget reduction plan that would reduce the Southern University System's budget by $6,957,331. The plan, which calls for the reduction to be shared by the Board and System and each campus within the System, is preliminary and seeks to protect the core mission of the university as much as possible from the negative effects of budget cuts, university officials said.

The Southern University System - along with the other higher education systems - is required to make budget adjustments by Jan. 1, 2009 through the end of the fiscal year, which equate to an annual budget reduction of approximately $14 million.

"We are all taken by surprise at the magnitude of the reductions in our budgets, but nonetheless, we must begin the difficult process of identifying where the reductions can be made," said SU System President Ralph Slaughter.

President Slaughter has outlined several areas for the System and campuses to take immediate steps in reducing expenditures including - reductions in travel; a freeze in hiring, filling vacant positions and issuing of new professional service contracts, except as essential; reduction in the number of adjunct faculty; request faculty to assume unpaid voluntary teaching overloads; increase class sizes, consolidate summer school sessions; reduce the number of temporary and part-time faculty and staff; reductions in expenditures for supplies and operational expenses; and additional institutional cost sharing for critical services.

"While we have already adopted measures to reduce energy use and conserve resources, we will be looking at ways to further reduce these costs on each of our campuses," added Slaughter.

The university will also be conducting a thorough review and assessment of programs, offer early retirement incentives for employees as well as asking employees to bear a greater workload. It may require qualified administrators to teach courses.

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