He knows it could come back to haunt him, but he's willing to take that chance.
Fresh off a year plagued by budget cuts, UF President Bernie Machen said he's ready to predict there will be no more cuts to UF's budget next spring.
"The economy seems to be stabilized, (which) allows us to kinda get back on terra firma," Machen said in an interview Wednesday.
"I just think it's gonna be a positive year after a pretty negative year," he said. "I'm going to venture out there … the fool that I am."
And although UF still needs to cut about $16 million from its budget this year, Machen said the university plans to hire more faculty to stem the brain drain and reduce UF's high faculty-student ratio, which clocks in at over 20-to-1.
The hires will be paid for by stimulus money initially, then covered by differential tuition funds, he said.
They will help to counteract the net loss of 81 faculty since last August, he said.
"What we're anxious to do is get back into a hiring mode," he said.
More details of the plan will be announced at today's State of the University speech at 3 p.m. in the Reitz Union Grand Ballroom.
Machen said part of the $42 million in stimulus funds UF has been allocated will be used to cover $16 million that UF still hasn't decided how to cut.
That figure used to be $11.6 million, according to plans announced in May, but Machen conceded Wednesday that those calculations were off the mark
The cuts will still come from the same places, he said, which means they will not involve reductions or eliminations of academic programs or employee layoffs.
The cuts will likely be announced in November or December after a discussion with the university community.
Proposals being considered include changes to vacation and sick-leave policies as well as adjusting summer pay rates.
Machen said he would've dealt with the cuts differently if he had more control over the budget. "We still have an incredible state bureaucracy that tells us how to spend our money," he said.
For example, he said, in 2007-2008 when UF had to make $47 million in cuts, the university was also given $62 million in Public Education Capital Outlay, or PECO, funds designated for building construction.
"If that had been a pot of money, I wouldn't have done it that way," he said. "I would've spent money on the budget."
Asked about his negotiations with Jacksonville to limit the availability of alcohol during festivities at the annual Florida-Georgia football game, Machen said his safety concerns aren't enough for him to lobby for a new location.
Later this fall, he said he plans to announce an extension of the contract that calls for the game to be held in Jacksonville.
He also responded to criticisms from students, including Student Body President Jordan Johnson, that he is overstepping his role as president by trying to regulate the drinking habits of students during that weekend.
"I don't believe the safety of our fans and students is outside the realm of responsibility for a university," Machen said.
As for UF's drop in the party school rankings, he renewed his objection to the rankings' validity but said many people take them seriously, so he's glad UF is no longer No. 1.
"I had parents ask me at Preview, "Is it safe for my son or daughter to come to the University of Florida if all you do up here is party,'" he said.
"You know that's not the truth," he said. "Our kids work very hard, but the perception is something we have to deal with."
Discussing his recent trip to Indonesia, Machen said he'd like to see more students being traded between UF and Indonesian universities, but acknowledged it might be a long shot.
"The problem is, it's so far and their country is so poor," he said.
"They have good students, but they can't afford to come to the U.S.," he said. "We're hopeful that the (U.S.) State Department is gonna increase aid to Indonesia."
Asked if he had any plans this year to donate his bonus, assuming the Board of Trustees approves it, Machen said he hadn't made any plans yet.
"I don't make a decision until I have something to decide," he said.
In December, Machen pledged to donate his $285,000 to the Florida Opportunity Scholars Program, a scholarship for low-income, first-generation college students.
Earlier this month, football coach Urban Meyer signed a new contract that included a $1 million donation to the program over six years.
Machen said if freshmen could learn one thing by the time they leave here, it should be "how to think and how the world is not a simple little place, that it's a big, complex world and they're gonna have to be adaptive to be successful."
