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Dear members of the university community:
Last week’s revenue estimating conference confirmed fears that the budget shortfall would be greater than anticipated. For us, this increases the likelihood that we will sustain substantial additional cuts, which has been our working assumption.
In a nutshell, Friday’s conference indicated that revenue collections for FY 2009-10 were reduced by $2.3 billion (10.6 percent) from the November estimate. The March estimate of $20.1 billion is the lowest it has been since the 1999-2000 estimate of $19.3 billion. This represents a gap for next year in the neighborhood of $5 billion.
This new estimate means we must forge ahead with our multi-year plans to further reduce our budget in anticipation of a significant shortfall. As we discussed last week, we are planning for an additional cut in state appropriations in FY 2009-10 of $33.7 million. This comes after the university already sustained a $24.2 million cut over the last two years.
Once expenses associated with unfunded obligations and critical investments are offset with tuition revenue and university-wide mitigation strategies, the resulting FY 09-10 budget gap is still $34.6 million. Since the units already submitted a three year budget reduction plan that included, as an assumption, an overall $23.2 million reduction for FY 2009-10, an additional $11.4 million or 4.1 percent will be necessary
The university is following a rolling three-year planning process and by FY 2011-12 the cuts beyond the original plans will be $17.6 million or 6.2 percent. By the end of this period we would have absorbed a cumulative $53.3 million budget reduction!
Our team in Tallahassee continues to work to make sure any cut we receive is fair, equitable and minimal and that our College of Medicine funding stays on track.
Town Hall Meeting
We are rescheduling our next Town Hall meeting due to scheduling conflicts and the fact that we will not have final budget information until after the Legislative session ends on May 1. It is possible that the final level of cuts may be offset somewhat by federal stimulus funds or new state revenues (read: taxes and fees). Therefore, we need to wait until the process ends before we make final decisions regarding next year.
A new date for our second Town Hall meeting will be announced shortly. Please look for that announcement and mark your calendar.
For faculty members who might be away from campus during this time and for anyone else who is unable to attend, we will be sure to upload a full report to News@FIU, including any materials that are presented at this meeting.
I look forward to your continued support in this process. Thank you for your ideas and participation.
Should you wish to participate in the ongoing discussion in Tallahassee by contacting your legislators, you may want to visit the FIU Governmental Relations page. Please remember that any contact with elected officials must occur during your personal time and utilizing your own resources.
Academic Health Sciences Center
A radio talk show hostess asked me this week which careers were going strong despite the economic downturn. Anything that is health related is a solid bet, I told her. Our nursing graduates are still getting multiple job offers. For many of the other disciplines, including business graduates, this is the moment not so much to look for a job but for tapping into the entrepreneurial spirit inside all of us.
Individually and as a university we must think creatively, which is, after all, the very approach that built this country.
This week we announced an updated economic impact study for the Academic Health Sciences Center (AHSC) we are building. The numbers are impressive: With our College of Medicine at the forefront, our AHSC will generate, directly or indirectly, 66,000 jobs by 2025. The vast majority of these jobs will be in South Florida and will not draw a state salary. They will be in private companies spun off from the research our faculty conducts, the services this new medical powerhouse will require and the advancement of the Greater Miami health services sector.
Only a select few U.S. cities are in the privileged position of having at least two medical schools: Boston, Philadelphia, New York, Chicago, St. Louis, Los Angeles, Washington DC, Atlanta, Baltimore, Kansas City, and Omaha. The College of Medicine will help build South Florida’s biomedical industry and train doctors to serve our unique community needs. Miami is now poised-like never before-to host a thriving biomedical industry that will benefit everyone, no matter what business we are in.
The sum of all the economic activity we will generate, including millions in research grants, will have an economic impact of $8.9 billion on the state of Florida, most of it right here in South Florida. In a few short years, this new enterprise that includes medicine, nursing, the allied health professions and public health will grow to have an impact greater than the entire university has today. I invite you to review the economic impact study.
Modesto A. Maidique
President
Our most impactful research:
Why exactly are we forging ahead on a medical school with a multimillion dollar budget deficit? Does this mean that positions will be cut in order to fund a medical school? (you know it does!) Why isn't the med school money used to fund existing programs instead? How does it make sense to spend on a new program while cutting existing programs? How does this make any sense? You can talk about the benefits of the med school all day long but how many are going to lose their jobs now for benefits in 2025?