Provost Suzanne Ortega met with faculty members Tuesday to address rumors of departmental cutbacks in the wake of UNM's financial situation.
About 100 faculty members gathered to discuss the issue with Ortega and Marc Saavedra, director of government relations.
Ortega said President David Schmidly and his team planned for the possibility of a budget shortfall and that the University might have to return some state funding, depending on the Legislature's deficit.
"What started out as a strategy - the figure at that time was something like 5 percent - rapidly developed into a set of revised budget scenarios that took the turn, 'What if the state revenue forecast was $400 million off?'" Ortega said.
If the shortfall in Santa Fe is $400 million, UNM may have to give back up to $6.61 million.
Law professor Sherri Burr attended the meeting to voice concerns about what will happen to part-time faculty with a downsized budget.
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"We've been asked in Arts and Sciences to go through and have to justify every course and tell where the funding is coming from," Burr said.
She said this sudden vetting system made many wonder if layoffs of part-time instructors might be in store.
Ortega said teacher and graduate assistant positions are usually the first to lose funding but that before the University administrators take any action, they will examine how efficient a reduction of part-time employees would be.
"I think, given our current situation and our current environment, there are things we can do to protect the educational integrity of the experience we give to our students that asks current faculty to stretch in certain ways perhaps they haven't had to on a routine basis," Ortega said. "It is possible that a good-faith imaginative session about part-time budget will end up saying, 'You know, there's nothing we could do any differently.'"
Burr said the administration needs to keep in mind how much revenue part-time employees bring to the University.
"Arts and Sciences did a study that showed a $1.6 million cut in Arts and Sciences is going to lead to a $7 million loss in revenue," she said.
Ortega said the administration is aware of how cutting part-time employees will impact the University's income.
"What would be the cut point ... (is where) I could protect tuition revenue capacity and more importantly the experience of my students and perhaps get some savings that could be redeployed elsewhere," she said.
Before that becomes necessary, Ortega said some departments within the University can contribute funds to cover budget needs.
The Provost's Office could save money on administrative salaries and give back about $328,000 for use in other departments, she said.
"In addition, we have $600,000 of unexpended funds that came to the Provost's Office prior to my arrival here, which we will use to reduce the impact of this budget cut," Ortega said.
She said the University as a whole has been cutting back on expenses by ceasing hiring and cutting back on travel.
"We are going to demonstrate good faith to the state over the next five weeks to show that we are really reducing costs as much as possible - that we're bankrolling as much money as possible," Ortega said.
During that time, the University will debate its budget priorities and make requests of the Legislature, she said.
"While we try to get our ducks in a row, we could try to get a broader, more sustained and deep conversation about how we plan in this environment for the University," Ortega said. "How do we demonstrate - not just to one another, but to our external constituents - that we are doing everything that a fiscally prudent individual would do in times of an uncertain budget?"
