University of Louisiana At Monroe Budget Cuts | ULM Forum 8-3-12

Budgets in Louisiana higher education have been shrinking dramatically over the last four years. Dr.Nick Bruno from The University of Louisiana at Monroe has made changes to many aspects of its operations, while still excelling in research and student retention.

In a letter to the ULM faculty and staff he discusses the impact of the budget cuts:

Bruno

ULM is committed to offering the classes needed by students who are making academic progress toward degree completion. While no majors have been eliminated, we have had to modify our academic structure to meet the demands of the budget.

Academic Affairs faculty and staff have diligently worked during the past several months to streamline the administration. Administrative department head positions were reduced from 18 to 7 and the position of associate vice president for academic affairs was eliminated.

Graphic Services, which has been operating as an auxiliary service on ULM’s campus for more than 32 years, is closed. As the university’s printing and mailing needs have changed over the last few years, a review of current printing and mailing services found it was more cost-effective to consolidate those services than to continue operating Graphic Services as an auxiliary.

Since the 2008-09 academic year, ULM’s total budget has been reduced by $14.6 million or 16.6 percent.

This has resulted in the elimination of 209 positions, 34.5 percent of which were faculty and 65.5 percent of which were non-faculty.

As a point of reference, that workforce is comparable in size to the number of people employed locally by Angus Chemical.

President Bruno's full letter can be found online here.