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The College of Engineering has already been assigned approximately $1.1 million in permanent budget cuts for the 2010-11 fiscal year and even deeper cuts may be necessary, said Bruce White, dean of the college.

The college is also being required to reduce its budget by $1.1 million in the current budget year, which started on July 1.

Given the extent of the reductions — and the fact that they come on top of $2 million in permanent cuts made between 2003 and 2009 — layoffs at the college will be unavoidable, White said. In the meantime, until the full impact of the cuts is known, White has put faculty hiring on hold.

To date, the college — including all departments and the dean’s office — has been able to avoid all but one layoff. For the time being, however, some open staff positions are not being filled, White said. The college is also looking for opportunities to share new hires, splitting the salary and the services of new staff members among departments.

White assembled multiple advisory committees and working groups to recommend ways to deal with budget reductions and to explore and implement operational changes. The groups received input from a variety of sources, including college chairs, managers, faculty and staff. In addition, White held two open forums at the college in June and July.

Preserving undergraduate instruction

One of the college’s priorities is to “protect instruction and to ensure that we have a stable staffing infrastructure that supports our successful, growing research enterprise,” White said. “I have asked department chairs to carefully consider course offerings to ensure that staffing for core courses is a priority for the undergraduate and graduate curricula. While electives make up an important part of the core curricula, it will be important for all of us to evaluate whether or not we can offer as many specialty courses/electives as we have in the past.”

While the college is able to offer undergraduates all but a few of the classes that have been available recently, class size will increase -- and students will probably be faced with fewer choices of instructors, along with reductions in the number of sections taught during the academic year, he added.

Grants and stimulus funds

On the bright side, grant funding at the college is growing significantly. Adding to traditional sources, college faculty have already received a number of grants through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, and White expects the number of these awards to increase in coming months.

One such grant announced in May, for example, awarded $2 million to a team led by Nigel Browning, a professor of chemical engineering and materials science, to develop the world’s first electron microscope capable of filming live biological processes.

Not only are the college’s grants allowing faculty to take their groundbreaking research to higher levels, they also provide jobs for researchers, students and staff, White said.

Making the best of a difficult situation

In addition to mandatory furloughs, uncertainty about layoffs and program changes has created anxiety among staff and faculty, White said.

But while he expects budget difficulties to continue for a minimum of two years, White will be looking for ways to make the most out of the situation.

“The college is going to be pursuing other revenue streams, by way of grants, gifts and partnerships with industry,” he said. “What’s more, as we consult with faculty and staff to determine priorities and streamline operations, we will be positioning ourselves optimally with the resources we have.”