ST. LOUIS (AP) - Facing an estimated $15 million budget shortfall, the University of Missouri-St. Louis is considering the elimination of up to 85 positions over the next two years.
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch (https://bit.ly/1YgA2EC ) reports that Chancellor Thomas George presented his budget realignment proposal Wednesday. The plan calls for a $12 million reduction in costs and generating $3.4 million in new revenue over the next two years.
Some of the additional money could come from tuition increases. The cuts would come from campus-wide reductions to nursing, business, education, social work and arts and sciences programs.
George estimates that 53 of the 85 job cuts would come from layoffs, 24 from leaving vacancies unfilled, and eight from retirement.
Overall, it would amount to a roughly 6 percent reduction in UMSL’s 1,300-member workforce.
“We wanted to minimize the effect on the quality of instruction and emphasize our ability to educate and graduate students,” George said.
His plan does not cut any undergraduate scholarships, and it does not eliminate any degree programs.
George proposed a tuition increase for the 2017 fiscal year that could raise as much as $1 million. However, the increase would be dropped if the governor and the Legislature follow through on a plan to boost UMSL’s performance-based funding.
Missouri’s public colleges and universities compete for a portion of money set aside by lawmakers each year. Schools are eligible if they meet certain performance benchmarks, including increased graduation and retention rates.
George said an increase in UMSL’s share of the performance funding pool could provide an additional $3 million.
An unexpected enrollment drop contributed to UMSL’s budget problem. Administrators expected a 2 percent increase but instead got a 4 percent decrease in enrollment for the current school year.
Part of the issue is that many students transfer to UMSL from community colleges, and community college enrollment is down.
The university also changed a policy that now requires transfer students to have a 2.3 grade-point average, up from 2.0 previously.
Some university officials have said privately that they believe unrest in nearby Ferguson after the 2014 police shooting of Michael Brown was probably a factor in out-of-state students’ choosing to go elsewhere.
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Information from: St. Louis Post-Dispatch, https://www.stltoday.com
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