By Shauna Leavitt

November 7, 2005 | Utah State University is being forced to function on operating budgets that are smaller than those allocated 30 years ago.

"We are trying to perform financial miracles all over the place," said Jay Greene, budget officer for the College of Humanities, Arts & Social Sciences.

With the increase in cost of living, advancing technology and a growing campus, the budgets of the university need to be increasing at the same or greater pace ­- but they are not, university officials said.

"Since I've been here [1994], I have only seen decreases in operating budget. We are trying to make due with what we had in the '70s, and that's not taking into account inflation," said Greene.

Each entity of USU is being faced with the problem and heavy responsibility of balancing its budget.

"Currently our operating [budget] is $34,000; a decade ago it was $54,000," said Norman Jones, department head for history.

Utah State University is facing an $8.6 million shortfall for the current fiscal year. Department heads and other administrative officers received the bad news last week.

"This is going to affect every student, faculty and staff," said Irene Whittier, USU human resource specialist.

Travel funds for conferences and professional meetings will be shrinking, funds for new equipment will be unavailable and electives will be dropping from course schedules.

"A big impact [on students] will be more competition for a fewer number of classes," said Rick Krannich, department head for sociology, social work & anthropology.

Departments bring in professionals from related fields to teach courses. When the funding for such "adjunct" professors is not available, the course usually is canceled, unless a contract professor steps in to teach it.

With the loss of adjunct professors, the journalism and communication department may face a shortage of professors to teach the core courses.

The policy that's keeping the departments afloat is the decentralized budget.

"Departments have the ability to get out there and get funding that's not directly tied to the Legislature. If it was decided to centralize the budgets and take the power away from the departments, then we would be in trouble," said Jones.

Each department has the power to combat the problem in its own way.

The department of forest, range and wildlife resources will be falling back on its professors' ability to acquire large research projects.

"We're lucky. The students [within our department] won't feel the budget cut this year because of the department's strong research engine and its overhead revenue," said Johan Du Toit department head.

As long as it's not year after year we can handle it," said Du Toit.

But the budget cut is not the only burden on departments.

"The constant strain of being told we can't do what we want [to help the department] is hurting morale," said Du Toit.

The question of what caused USU's financial troubles does not have a cut-and-dried answer. Most say it's the decrease in undergraduate enrollment and the House Bill 331, which decreased graduate student enrollment. Others say it's the extensive construction projects that brought on the financial burdens.

"There is a lot of speculation . . . it could be a combination of things," said Greene.

Adminsitrators interviewed for this article said there will come a point when the budgets can't be cut any more.

Good planning is essential if the university is going to pull itself out of this financial bind. Du Toit said he hopes to receive a well thought out, five-year plan from the new administration. A new provost, Raymond Coward of Penn State University, takes office Jan. 2.

"We all hope it ends sooner than later," said Krannich.

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