UTA will receive $10.2 million less in state funding for operations during the next two years.
The university will get $89.4 million each for the next two fiscal years, from Sept. 1, 2011 to Aug. 31, 2013.
The university administration is reviewing the budget Gov. Rick Perry signed Friday to see in detail what dollars UTA has to work with. Under the initial budget proposal for UTA, the institution would have received $78.5 million for the next fiscal year and $78.6 million for the fiscal year beginning in 2012.
“The university is very pleased that the reduced funding wasn’t more severe,” university spokeswoman Kristin Sullivan said.
UTA took steps to save money by offering voluntary separation programs beginning in spring 2010 to university employees. In May, 27 faculty members accepted a voluntary separation program, taking $2.9 million off the annual payroll. Such initiatives helped absorb the expected shortfall in state funding, Sullivan said.
Although the university will receive $10.2 million less in state funding for operations, it’s not the same as saying UTA has to cut $10.2 million from its operations budget, Sullivan said. The university will focus on education and research, with funding prioritizing students and faculty, she added.
“The university is doing everything it can to maintain an efficient and effective operation,” she said.
Funding for UTA may have come short of the university’s goal, but the entire state faced a $27 billion shortfall, said Rep. Diane Patrick, R–Arlington, who served during the regular session on the Texas House Appropriations and Higher Education committees.
Patrick said she made it her top priority to get appropriate funding for student needs and nursing. In addition to operations monies, UTA will receive the $5 million in state funding it requested for its Regional Nursing Education Center to help double the number of licensed nursing graduates by 2012.
It was easier to make the case for those dollars going to UTA’s nursing program since it has excelled in performance and is a field in demand, Patrick said.
The representative also was pleased that she could help secure more dollars for students that required TEXAS Grant money. Initially, the Texas Legislature was considering only funding current TEXAS Grant recipients.
“It’s very important for UT Arlington, which has a growing student population, to be able to help them with finances associated with going to college,” she said.
Student Congress President Jennifer Fox said the university and student leaders are communicating about budget cuts.
“The administration is doing everything it can to make the impact on students less noticeable,” she said. “There may be things that come up that students may see, but we’re doing everything we can to stay focused on the goal and students as a priority.”
During the spring semester, students learned that an annual $100 printing allowance would be dropped as a result of budget cuts. The Office of Information Technology did not alert Student Congress before the cut was announced. Fox said since then, student leaders are now better communicating with the administration to understand the implications budget cuts will have on students.
“If there is any cut that would affect the students, I think we need to help explain that to students so they understand why,” Fox said.
