U. begins plans to end fiscal year without loss

The University plans to postpone major maintenance and construction projects and delay replacing support staff and administrators in order to get out of its projected $1 million deficit, Senior Vice President Marna Whittington said last night. Whittington emphasized that the administration will look to make cuts where it will effect students the least. "Students shouldn't be affected directly," Whittington said last night. "They might find in offices that vacancies have not been filled." "It will not affect academic programs," she added. Whittington said that belt-tightening will also come in "discretionary spending" -- non-essential, day-to-day expenditures in areas not specifically outlined in the original budget. The administration announced to the Trustees last Friday that the University faced a $1 million shortfall -- the first deficit in 15 years -- if it did not enact cost-cutting measures. Administrators blamed the budget problems on a three-and-a-half percent reduction in state grants which Governor Robert Casey announced earlier this month. Because of this abatement, the University lost $1.3 million dollars in funding for Fiscal Year 1990. Whittington, Provost Michael Aiken and Acting Budget Director Benjamin Hoyle said this week that they have been studying various cost-cutting measures. The revised spending strategy should be complete within a few weeks, Whittington said. Hoyle said last night the University is not in a "panic situation." "I think every institution of higher education can pretty much expect that something like this will be happening," Hoyle said. "Most other public institutions have had to absorb reductions in state funding." "We feel confident that we will have resolved these issues, but they are not issues that can be resolved overnight," Hoyle added. Both Hoyle and Whittington said that besides the state cuts, rising oil prices due to the Persian Gulf war have increased budget problems, but added that static oil prices would not have prevented them. "Prices are bouncing around like crazy," Hoyle said. "Philadelphia Thermal can't give us an honest read on [the impact] for this year." The deficit represents nearly one percent of the University's annual budget. Its operating budget is $1.2 billion dollars, Hoyle said. Administrators said last night that they expect further budgeting problems next year as a result of more state cutbacks. "We ought to be prepared to make a persuasive case [to the state] for the importance of funding," Whittington said. "We're likely to feel it again next year as well as this year."

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