The possibility of a $5.3 million budget cut next year has caused the dean of UF's College of Engineering to consider replacing the phone lines with magicJack, the inexpensive Internet phone system famous for its late night infomercials.
"I did it at home," said Pramod Khargonekar, dean of the college. "I got magicJack myself."
Khargonekar spoke to about 150 students Monday night in a town hall forum about what budget cuts could mean for the college.
One thing Khargonekar said he will not consider when making cuts is laying off tenured and tenure-track faculty because it would cripple the college's ability to recruit new professors.
"If you do a great job, then you have a job forever," he said. "That's the definition of tenure."
Like all colleges and administrative units, the engineering college was asked by UF President Bernie Machen in January to present budget proposals for the next academic year with 10 percent cuts, which Machen calls a "worst-case scenario."
Under the proposals, the college will have to reduce its budget from about $55 million to just under $50 million, Khargonekar told students. Last year, he said, the college had to slash about $7 million.
After Khargonekar explained the size of the possible cuts, he opened the floor for an hour-and-a-half question and answer session.
He told students that if the college has to cut 10 percent, the budget for teaching assistants would likely be reduced and classes with fewer students could be offered less frequently, perhaps once a year.
He also said departments within the college might be merged, open faculty positions might remain unfilled and professors might be asked to teach classes in different departments to help share the teaching load.
Joanna Sandford, a fourth-year UF industrial and systems engineering major, said she appreciated the dean's effort to engage students but hopes the cuts don't delay her graduation date.
"What if two classes are offered at (the) exact same time, and I need both of them to graduate, and they're both offered only once a year?" she said after the forum.
