The state of the economy still shows no immediate signs of recovery as Louisiana state legislators prepare to deal with this fiscal year’s shortcomings. According to WBRZ News 2 Louisiana the shortage is nearly $107 million, and as midyear rapidly approaches legislators have proposed, “more than $36 million in cuts will hit higher education and more than $20 million will come from the Department of Health and Hospitals” to deal with the deficit. As per the Louisiana Constitution, the state must balance the deficit during the ongoing fiscal year.
“We don’t need whining, we do need leadership,” stated Governor Bobby Jindal in a press conference held on Friday, Oct. 22. “Now is the time to deliver more services, better services for the dollars that we spend across state government.”
According to an official e-mail message from Southeastern President John L. Crain, the university will have to shrink its already thin budget by about $750,000.
“As shared in prior communications, we took a very conservative approach in planning our current budget,” stated Crain in the message. “Accordingly, we plan to absorb the current mid-year reduction through savings realized from organizational and operational changes, including personnel reductions, that have already been enacted in anticipation of future potential budget reductions.”
Another potential money saver is the proposed four and a half day workweek for the spring semester, as reported by The Advocate on Friday, Oct. 22. Crain later confirmed in a separate official e-mail message that “projected savings in utilities from a shortened workweek was included in a plan submitted by the University to help make up for the recently announced mid-year budget.”
“The article [in The Advocate] did not include two important clarifications,” stated Crain in the message. “First, implementation is contingent upon verification that an appropriate schedule of class sections can be developed and offered. Second, the proposed 4.5 day workweek is still a 40-hour workweek that would require modification of the work day and would not affect the pay of faculty and staff.”
Crain ensured that the Provost, Dr. Tammy Bourg, was working in conjunction with department chairs and deans to assess the possibility of a class schedule for a four and a half day week for the upcoming spring semester. Crain also added that a final campus notification containing all the details would be released within the next few days.