Frequently Asked Questions
Recently Added
- Was cutting salary across the board to save jobs ever considered?
- Will the university ask for more authority over salary and benefit decisions so we can manage our own priorities?
- What about reducing employees to 80 percent or 60 percent time or furloughs to save money?
- In order for the institution to be fair to all categories of staff, would it be a consideration to declare the institution to be in financial exigency so that the financial burden may have more potential to be equally distributed across the institution?
- Why not take money from the budgets of the various athletic programs and use it for education?
- Has the university considered a four-day workweek? If it is illegal to close the campus, then why do we do it for winter break?
- What about energy-saving ideas?
- Is the university implementing separation incentive programs and a hiring freeze?
- Why are the town hall meetings on the budget not podcast?
- Besides town halls and the budget website are there any other communications methods you are planning to inform the campus community about the budget?
- Is the university considering cutting academic programs, including bachelor's, master's, and Ph.D. programs, and the research that goes with them?
- Will the university consider better utilization of the course management system Web CT?
- Are academic organizational changes being considered?
- What cost-saving ideas and overall efficiency improvements are being considered outside of the academic area?
- What other suggestions have been submitted that are not being considered?
- Should prospective students and parents be concerned about program cuts due to the budget cuts?
- What is the current budget cut?
- What about future cuts?
- What is a letter of nonrenewal, and what does it mean?
- What is the university doing to help those who received these notices?
- How were decisions made about who received notices?
- How many notices were sent out?
- Why were only professional staff, and not classified staff, included among those who received notices?
- Why is the university going ahead with new construction projects and the iNtegrate software installation at a time of budget cuts?
- Will the budget play a role in the promotion and tenure of faculty?
- Does the university support raising taxes to cover the revenue shortage?
- Will private fundraising play a role in augmenting the budget gap?
- What other cost-cutting or revenue-increasing alternatives are being considered?
Recently Added
1. Was cutting salary across the board to save jobs ever considered?
Yes but, in general, across-the-board salary reductions were not deemed appropriate. In addition, an action such as across-the-board cuts would require specific action by the Legislature and governor.
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2. Will the university ask for more authority over salary and benefit decisions so we can manage our own priorities?
This would have positive impacts for all campus programs, and will be forwarded to the system for consideration in the legislative priorities for the next session.
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3. What about reducing employees to 80 percent or 60 percent time or furloughs to save money?
The Human Resources department is evaluating the idea of voluntary reductions of time for employees as well as the idea of voluntary furloughs and 11-month contracts. Mandatory reductions and furloughs require the same notice period as total separation under existing policies. Estimates are that the university spends about $1 million per day on salaries and benefits.
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4. In order for the institution to be fair to all categories of staff, would it be a consideration to declare the institution to be in financial exigency so that the financial burden may have more potential to be equally distributed across the institution?
The Board of Regents has already discussed this issue and may continue to have additional discussions. However, the campus does not support "across-the-board" reductions.
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5. Why not take money from the budgets of the various athletic programs and use it for education?
The Athletic Department faces the same budget-reduction challenges as other departments at the university. Elimination of the Athletics Department is not being considered.
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6. Has the university considered a four-day workweek? If it is illegal to close the campus, then why do we do it for Winter Break?
Many people have asked similar questions. Currently, the university must meet state requirements by being open for business five days per week. The campus is not closed during the winter break, although employees are encouraged to voluntarily take time off during this period. We are evaluating the feasibility of actually closing the campus for specific time periods in order to generate significant operational savings, and this will also include a review of state authority. From a building/utility perspective, this would be in the summer for UNLV rather than in the winter. Flexible hours and schedules for staff (including a four-day workweek) may be considered because it would benefit employees financially — it would have little, if any, financial benefit for the university. Also, it may not work in small departments. When it comes to any type of flexible hours, individual supervisors must be ultimately responsible for those decisions.
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7. What about energy-saving ideas?
This university is a national leader on sustainability and renewable energy research, and the university has already implemented or is in the process implementing several energy-saving initiatives. Many suggestions have been offered in this area, including the use of lighting, paper usage, recycling, temperature settings, and water use. Other ideas are being considered for implementation.
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8. Is the university implementing separation incentive programs and a hiring freeze?
A separation incentive program has been offered, and the president and provost already implemented strict oversight for any hiring of vacant positions.
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9. Why are the town hall meetings on the budget not podcast?
The president and other university leaders greatly value the feedback received at town hall meetings, which is why they emphasize personal attendance and face-to-face interaction. This is a more personal, interactive approach and is conducive to promoting two-way communication.
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10. Besides town halls and the budget website are there any other communications methods you are planning to inform the campus community about the budget?
University Advancement has been asked to develop a communications effort to accomplish this. The plan includes reaching out to faculty and student groups with information to help coordinate advocacy efforts. It also includes recognition of creative, effective, and efficient new concepts in cost and energy savings as well as reviewing communications strategies other universities are using or considering.
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11. Is the university considering cutting academic programs, including bachelor's, master's, and Ph.D. programs, and the research that goes with them?
UNLV is committed to its academic and research mission. However, low-demand academic programs at all levels are regularly eliminated based on low enrollment. In light of planning and priorities, the president and provost — with the involvement of the broader campus community — are considering the best next steps to maintain the quality of university programs.
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12. Will the university consider better utilization of the course-management system Web CT?
The provost and other members of the university community are considering the ways this resource can be used most effectively.
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13. Are academic organizational changes being considered?
First, general-education revisions and reorganization around learning outcomes are top planning priorities. The Academic Success Center has been formed to be a "one-stop" student support center to help students succeed academically and improve university retention and graduation rates. In addition to organizational changes being considered in non-academic areas, the provost is evaluating a number of academic affairs adjustments, including:
- Faculty teaching across colleges to improve efficiency and effectiveness
- Improved efficiency through unit reorganization
- Program enrollments and priorities
- Management of class seat efficiency and cost
- Managment of course offerings and size to increase efficiency and access
- Impact of reduced enrollment on program effectiveness
- Expansion of distance education and off-campus courses
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14. What cost-saving ideas and overall efficiency improvements are being considered outside of the academic area?
There are many, including:
- Re-examining insurance premium costs, which have been reviewed in the past and are purchased by the system.
- Reviewing infrastructure costs.
- Car pooling (to help employees).
- Using open source and office applications to cut software cost.
- Keeping carry-forward funds past June 30, which would require legislative action.
- Seeking authority to fully implement a centralized fringe benefit program, which is currently under NSHE consideration.
- Using lease-term options as alternative to GO bonding.
- Re-evaluating the funding formula, which requires legislative action.
- Initiating ACCESS fee requirements for graduate and professional students, which was on the agenda for the August board meeting and was approved.
- Limiting out-of–state travel, hosting expenditures, and high level administrator costs.
- Increasing surcharge fees.
- Asking the NSHE Financing Team to evaluate various financial issues.
- Implementing iNtegrate, which is being reviewed by a committee that includes the provost.
- Seeking a State Public Works Board (SPWB) exemption for UNLV to eliminate SPWB cost.
- Seeking more flexibility to use money in all six of UNLV's separate legislative accounts rather than keeping all the funds within each.
- Asking to raise NHSE limits on capital-improvement projects to save administrative overhead in processing small transactions.
- Seeking flexibility on multi-year agreements/contracts to save time on processing these transactions.
- Seeking to eliminate the use of credit cards for paying registration. UNLV would not have to pay the current percentage fee on credit card transactions but would be able to keep that money or charge an equivalent fee.
- Adjustments or elimination of administrative programs.
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15. What other suggestions have been submitted that are not being considered?
There are many that, for varying reasons, are not being considered, including:
- Ceasing the use of golf carts on campus since this is a relatively low-cost but useful campus resource
- Eliminating administrators' cell phones and Blackberrys
- Discontinuing the Faculty-in-Residence program
- Closing Advising Centers
- Eliminating reduced tuition for seniors auditing classes
- Halting the implementation of new programs, which was not approved at the recent board meeting
- Using the Wellness Benefit to pay for membership at the Recreation Center with the assumption this would increase membership and revenues
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16. Should prospective students and parents be concerned about program cuts due to the budget cuts?
University leadership has made its core mission — a commitment to quality education and practical research — its top priority in budgetary decisions. Part of that mission is helping students receive the support they need to be successful. It is possible that there may be some "spot" shortages of classes, but the university is making every effort to maintain a high level of service for students. The university recently has implemented several initiatives to assist students, including a class concierge program, a first-year student program, and the Academic Success Center. Also, general-education revisions will improve academic operations in spite of budgetary challenges.
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Previously Added
17. What is the current budget cut?
In the current biennium, we have already received a 4.5 percent budget reduction. We finalized our plans for this 4.5 percent reduction, a total of $18.1 million, which was assisted by some system reductions that lowered the individual cuts for all NSHE institutions.
Two additional reductions have been announced — one that the governor and legislative leadership handled without additional NSHE operating cuts, and another that was addressed in the recent special legislative session. The overall average reduction for all state agencies coming out of the special session was an additional 3.3 percent, which would mean another $6.4 million budget reduction for UNLV. However, we do not yet know what UNLV's specific target will be or whether the state will allocate that cut across the board to all state agencies and programs.
As of July 2008, we are just halfway through the current biennium, and the state revenue shortfall that started out at $230 million last fall is now projected to be more than $1.2 billion, and there is no assurance that the revenue will not further decline, requiring even more cuts this biennium.
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18. What about future cuts?
This may be our greatest and most important uncertainty. In the governor's proposed budget approach for the next biennium (2009-2011), state agencies would be required to take a 14.12 percent base budget cut in order to have a balanced budget for the next biennium.
The level of cuts would represent more than $60 million in biennial cuts for UNLV ($30 million per year). While we fervently hope and assume this level will never become a reality, it is unfortunately pragmatic to assume that budget cuts will nonetheless be substantial. As outlined in a recent memo from the chancellor, significant reductions would have long-term and critical impacts on our institutions of higher education. It is the February-June 2009 legislative session that will establish this future budget-reduction target.
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19. What is a letter of nonrenewal, and what does it mean?
It is actually called a notice of non-reappointment (NNR) for those hired before March 2005, and a notice of termination for those hired after that date.
Unless otherwise provided in the contract of employment, non-tenured academic and administrative faculty hired on or after March 1, 2005, may be given notice of termination at any time. The notice periods are as follows:
- If in the first academic or fiscal year of service, the employee will be given at least 90 calendar days in advance of date of termination.
- If in the second academic or fiscal year of service, the employee will be given at least 180 calendar days in advance of date of termination.
- If in the third and subsequent years of service, the employee will be given at least 365 calendar days in advance of the date of termination.
The contract of employment of a non-tenured administrative faculty member is terminated at the expiration of the appropriate notice period whether or not the notice period ends during the fiscal year the notice is given. For non-tenured academic faculty, if the notice period expires during the semester, the contract terminates at the end of the semester.
For those hired before March 1, 2005, unless provided otherwise in an employment contract, notice of non-reappointment to employment of non-tenured academic faculty and administrative faculty will be given at least 365 calendar days in advance of the termination of each succeeding employment contract of one academic or fiscal year's duration.
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20. What is the university doing to help those who received these notices?
To help ease the transition of those affected, the university is offering voluntary incentive packages for separation that includes sufficient resources to continue health care insurance through the end of June 2009.
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21. How were decisions made about who received notices?
Those decisions were made by managers across the university, and they were based on several factors, including length of service, performance, and the role their function plays in supporting the core mission of the university — providing students with the best possible education. Every division of the university was affected by this action.
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22. How many notices were sent out?
A total of 97 were issued this spring and summer, including 28 on June 30.
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23. Why were only professional staff, and not classified staff, included among those who received notices?
That was a matter of timing. The non-renewal notices needed to be delivered by June 30, 2008, the end of the fiscal year, so the separation could be effective in the next biennium, which begins July 1, 2009. Other classifications of employees will likely be affected in the future, but we hope to have additional clarity on the next biennium budget reductions as we take those actions.
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24. Why is the university going ahead with new construction projects and the iNtegrate software installation at a time of budget cuts?
The iNtegrate software installation is critical to our efforts to improve student services and support students in their successful journey to graduation. We are committed to this effort. As for the new buildings currently under construction, we need to continue to offer our students the best facilities to support quality education.
We continually cite the critical need for additional academic and research space in our support of the university's mission — we are substantially behind in offering facilities and space consistent with our current population. This is a by-product of years of rapid enrollment growth. Also, construction projects are supported by long-term funding sources that are different from those used for salaries. The major capital projects on campus started anywhere from one and a half to three years ago and are just coming to a conclusion this summer. We do not expect the same level of capital investment on the campus in the near future as we have had in the recent past.
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25. Will the budget play a role in the promotion and tenure of faculty?
No, normal tenure and promotion decisions will follow existing policies and procedures, and associated salary adjustments will be made for those receiving promotions. We need to be unambiguous in our commitment to this principle.
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26. Does the university support raising taxes to cover the revenue shortage?
The university cannot take an official position on that. However, many have argued that there is a clear need for the state to examine and stabilize its revenue sources. We do believe, however, that financial stability is absolutely essential for education at all levels to reach the quality and potential we all seek. Stated more critically, higher education, in particular, suffers greatly when budgets vary significantly and with little time to adjust. We have such a high percentage of our operations committed into the future, such as scheduled classes and sections and faculty/instructional staff salaries, that we have little flexibility in making downward budget adjustments. The state's ability to establish a broader revenue base would add stability and thus provide greater predictability in education funding.
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27. Will private fundraising play a role in augmenting the budget gap?
Maintaining our relationships and agreements with donors is a top priority for the university. Donors support UNLV because they believe in its quality and direction and that they are investing in the excellence of the institution. Private gifts should not and will not be used to cover short-term budget gaps.
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28. What other cost-cutting or revenue-increasing alternatives are being considered?
We are currently considering many options. Each option is tested against possible adverse impacts on our academic programs. In particular, we emphasize student success, quality of instruction, and continued support of research as we explore possible actions. We look toward preserving those staff and faculty positions most central to our academic core. We anticipate that any future reductions will strive to identify and cut/reduce less central programs, rather than make across-the-board cuts that would adversely affect all our academic programs. At the moment, we are working to offer a voluntary, incentive-buyout separation program that would provide opportunities for faculty and staff eligible on a combination of years of service and age to leave with a lump-sum payment. We believe this program is very important to giving us necessary flexibility with our salary funding.
We will use these web pages to announce additional programs and options to the UNLV community. We are committed to making these deliberations visible and transparent — we will work toward getting broad input and feedback as we develop our budget-reduction plans.
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