President David Schmidly announced Tuesday he will enact a spending and hiring freeze at UNM.
He presented a plan for a "strategic spending pause" to the UNM Regents' Finance and Facilities Committee and said it is designed to boost UNM's savings during tough economic times.
"We can and we will consider special circumstances, but folks, we have to pause spending," Schmidly said. "To not do so would be incredibly awful, and there is going to be some pain. I mean, that's the reality of this."
The plan includes a hiring freeze on positions that are not crucial to the University's mission and suspension of salary adjustments not already approved by the executive vice presidents.
Howard Snell, Faculty Senate president, said halting salary adjustments could be devastating to many departments.
"The impact of suspending salary adjustments will actually be great, because other institutions are already taking away our people, and they will be more successful at that if we aren't able to make salary adjustments," Snell said.
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Snell said some UNM professors are likely to move to other universities that can offer them higher pay. He said departments will lose invaluable faculty members.
"I just hope that it's obvious the contradiction in that message . in that we are being encouraged to save, but when we save, we lose," Snell said.
Schmidly said that if a professor is offered a higher wage, the University will consider matching the wage to keep the professor at UNM. However, professors' proposals will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis, he said.
David Harris, executive vice president of business and finance, said external events - not University spending - put UNM in this position.
Harris said the state is suffering financially, as oil and gas revenue has decreased.
"Oil that was selling in August for $143 (per barrel) is now selling for $68," he said. "Natural gas that was selling for $12.31 in June . is now $1.88. That's what really caused this problem."
New Mexico State University President Waded Cruzado has not implemented a savings plan like Schmidly's, said Darrell Pehr, spokesman for NMSU.
Harris said the Legislature will decrease its budget next year by about $372 million, which will likely mean less funding for UNM.
According to a news release from Gov. Bill Richardson's office, the general funds revenue estimate for the 2009 budget year is about $344 million lower than previously expected.
"Clearly, I think that there is a threat that we could suffer a lot of our appropriation levels in the current year, but that's yet to be determined," Harris said. "But, most assuredly, I think our appropriations will be decreased for the next fiscal year, and I think that's why we are taking this precautionary step right now, so that if it does (happen) eventually, we will be prepared to deal with it without a loss of our current work force, which is really important."
Schmidly said he wants to avoid layoffs, because they would be detrimental to the community - UNM is the fifth-largest employer in New Mexico.
He said his plan will also postpone minor renovations and equipment purchases, reduce travel expenses by 10 percent, revise all new capital projects not already under construction, and prioritize capital projects funded by the Legislature.
Each of the executive vice presidents will preside over a budget holdback account and collect the money saved by these methods.
The executive vice presidents have the authority to override any of these savings points on a case-by-case basis, Schmidly said.
"We should all look for savings in the current year," Schmidly said. "Anything saved in the current year will put your department or school in a better position going into the next fiscal year and require going forward. I would ask the whole campus community to adopt a more frugal mind-set."
