A recent report reveals that UF had almost $131 million in unrestricted funds at the end of the 2007 fiscal year - none of which will be used to offset a $47 million budget crunch this July.
The United Faculty of Florida, the state's higher-education faculty union, commissioned the report, which was first publicized in a Wednesday article in The Gainesville Sun. It has incited leaders of UF's faculty and graduate student unions to question whether digging into the "rainy-day fund" could prevent roughly 130 UF faculty and staff layoffs.
John Biro, president of UF's chapter of the union, said UF officials have an obligation to explain why the reserves, which are up to the discretion of the Board of Trustees, are not being spent to prevent layoffs.
"You lay people off only in a genuine emergency when there is no alternative," Biro said.
Steve Orlando, UF spokesman, said the $130.9 million in 2007 reserves were not tapped because the money is committed to other projects.
He said $85 million is being used to fund initiatives such as purchasing computers every seven years and supporting UF's sustainable building program. UF is required to keep the remaining $45 million for one-time, unexpected expenses, such as a hurricane, he said.
"That's a very minimal amount for what good business practices would dictate," Orlando said. "We have to keep a certain amount, and really it should be more."
He said it would be irresponsible to use the money for recurring expenses, such as payroll. But Biro disagrees.
"I think people should come before equipment," he said.
Leroy Dubeck, a Temple University physics professor, created the report.
He said he was surprised to learn UF did not channel any of its unrestricted reserves to avoid layoffs because of the fund's growth since 2003 and because economic downturns only last a few years.
He used UF's annual financial audits to the Florida Auditor General from 2003 to 2007 to determine that UF was in excellent financial condition by the end of June 30, 2007.
Bret Seferian, vice president of the bargaining council for Graduate Assistants United, said Dubeck's conclusion is inconsistent with how UF is representing itself in light of recent budget cuts. The report has only made GAU members more suspicious of UF administration, Seferian said.
"Now is the time to use your rainy-day fund," he said. "If you never use them, then they never serve a purpose."
