I know many of us are breathing a sigh of relief because the worst of the budget cuts facing the University of Florida a few months ago have not come to pass. Unfortunately, 67 people are still facing the possible loss of their jobs - many of them are the underappreciated staffers who keep the school running.
Worse yet, many of them are facing that unnecessarily. At last week's Faculty Senate meeting, President Bernie Machen revealed UF's budget for 2009-2010 and explained that he felt he has to make cuts because the budget from the state-used federal stimulus money reflects dollars he is not sure he can rely on in future years. However, the president's plan is ignoring that there will be a small increase in permanent dollars in the coming years: increased tuition.
In 2009-2010, Machen reported tuition increases will bring in $20 million more.
Additionally, in 2010-2011 there will be about $6 to $8 million more even if the school is unable to get any donations for need-based financial aid (by state law 30 percent of new tuition dollars, or the same amount in donations, must go to financial aid).
Why can't the UF administration take some of the nonreccurring stimulus dollars to pay salaries this year until the new tuition money arrives next year?
Surely that is preferable to laying off even more already overworked staffers.
