President David Schmidly's goal of cutting nonacademic administrative spending by 15 percent over the next three years could total $6 million, the Office of Planning, Budget and Analysis announced yesterday.
University spokeswoman Susan McKinsey said the president will begin by reducing administrative spending by 5 percent when framing this year's budget, which will be finalized in April.
Administrative spending, according to Schmidly's "cost containment measures and guidelines" released Monday, includes things such as food purchases and printing, as well as membership dues to professional organizations.
Schmidly said he will also cut costs through the voluntary furlough program. He said it would save money in each department that participates and could add as much as $250,000 to the University's overall budget.
Schmidly said this was the reason he wanted to announce the voluntary furlough program in February, though the option won't be available to employees until July.
"I wanted it to be part of the budget guidelines, so that we could know who wanted to participate so we could factor it into preparing the budgets," he said. "I don't know what kind of support we're going to have for it . but, assuming you get a quarter of a million (dollars) or so, we might - then that's money that could be used in the budget for other purposes."
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Marc Nigliazzo, vice president of Rio Rancho operations, said the voluntary furlough program is a way for everyone to get involved in helping the University stay afloat financially.
This might also show the Legislature that UNM is worthy of more state funding, he said.
"I do believe, in these kinds of times, it's always beneficial to demonstrate to the Legislature that you're willing to take some cuts in spending as a way in trying to address their needs," he said. "I know from experience that legislators get bombarded with requests for funding. It starts getting intense when it appears that people are not getting on board and trying to assist."
Nigliazzo said the voluntary furlough program is one of many ways UNM can cut costs.
"I don't think it's the only (step), but I think it's another step toward demonstrating to them that the University is willing to do its part to try to cut some of its spending without having a direct impact on the teaching of classes, which - that and research - are the most important things that we do," he said.
Schmidly said he might dip into reserve funds to balance the budget but that they would not be enough to cover all of UNM's deficits.
Schmidly said he will try to balance the University's budget not only by cutting costs but by trying to increase revenue, such as tuition dollars.
"If you have to reduce your budget then you have to cut expenses, and if it's a small reduction, oftentimes just the expense cuts take care of it," he said. "The other side of the equation to look at is, If you reduce your expenditures, what can you do to raise your revenues?"
Schmidly said the University could raise revenue by soliciting more donations through the UNM Foundation and trying to increase enrollment - which could be possible because UNM reported an increase in applications this semester.
UNM's primary revenue source is tuition money, but now is not the time to raise tuition costs, Schmidly said.
He said UNM could also increase enrollment but that this might be problematic.
Schmidly acknowledged that position attrition, and therefore lower staffing throughout the University, could cause the faculty-student ratio to increase.
"Yes, a little bit of enrollment growth is a great thing, because it helps on the revenue side," he said. "Too much could stress your capacity to serve the students."
Schmidly said he'd like the faculty-student ratio to stay at 18- or 19-to-1. The ratio, as of 2008, is 20-to-1, according to the Princeton Review.
