Budget Recap & Update

Given Governor Rendell’s announcement in February, we are anticipating level funding of state appropriations for fiscal year 2009-10. The Administrative Budget Committee (ABC) had to move quickly to prepare a budget accordingly for the upcoming fiscal year, starting July. ABC projected a $4.7 million university budget shortfall as a result of the flat appropriation, assuming a modest tuition increase and calculating fixed costs such as utilities, debt services, and contractual salary and benefits increases. See Academic Affairs Budget Update: March 2009

To address the immediate shortfall for this upcoming year, ABC solicited and reviewed budget reduction plans from all five divisions, using a comprehensive process driven by the university’s core mission, not solely by traditional proportional allocations. Academic Affairs proposed a reduction plan for $3.3 million—the top of the range of possible reductions.(See FY10 Budget Reduction Proposals).